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THE PEOPLE'S 

HISTORY OF PRESBYTERIANISM 

IN ALL AGES. 




CALVIN. 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY 



OF 



PRESBYTERIANISM 



IN ALL AGES. 



ROBERT P. KERR, D. D., 

Author of " Presbyterianism for the People," " The Voice of God in 
History," "Land of Holy Light," Etc.. Etc. 



FIFTH EDITION. 



RICHMOND, VA.: 
The Presbyterian Committee of Publication. 



< 



sec: 



3 



IbbJ. 







sA 



40871 

40870 

Copyright 

&2 

Jas. K. Hazen, D. IX, 
18 88. 



Printed by 
w.iittet & shepperson ; 
Richmond, Va, 







^ 
^ 

Sv 



TO THE LATE 

JOHN POOLE KERR, 

Who was born and reared in Scotland, in the town of Sanquhar, Dum- 
friesshire — a place celebrated for its association with the two famous 
" Sanquhar Declarations" of the Covenanters, from which noble 
race he came. His life, the greater part of which teas spent 
in the United States, was one of devotio/i to righteous- 
ness and of communion zvith God. Its influence 
still remains in the hearts of all tvho knew 
him, as an inspiration to duty and the 
love of truth. This Book, a history 
ofthepriiiciples to which he gave 
his labors and prayers, 
is tenderly 
Dedicated to his Memory 
By a Devoted So n, 

THE AUTHOR. 



(< 1 



A * 



PREFACE. 



P) OOKS are written to be read, not to lie on dusty 
-*~^ shelves. But this is a busy age, and most per- 
sons will not take time to read extensive treatises. 
The people call for short sermons, short prayers, and 
short books. Nor is this demand without reason : for 
life itself is short, and there is much to do. 

The present volume has been prepared with the 
design of placing within the reach of every one a brief 
history of Presbyterianism, at small cost to the reader, 
both of money and time. On this account it has been 
necessary to omit a great deal of interesting and in- 
structive matter. It is better that the many should 
know the principles and outline of a history, with its 
most important events and characters, than that the 
few should know everything connected with it. The 
J ? ew i however, have their histories of Presbyterianism, 
thorough and voluminous, covering every age and 
country in which our church has had an existence; 
5 



6 PREFACE. 

and those who have time for extended research will 
find no lack of material. 

So far as is known, this is the first comprehensive 
history of Presbyterianism, in all ages and countries, 
in one work. It is a general survey, of the operations 
and influence of a principle and an institution which 
have accomplished more for the welfare of mankind 
than all other agencies, except the Gospel, for which 
it has been a fitting vehicle. May the people read 
it, and the blessing of God rest upon it ! 

R. P. K. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

CHAPTER I. 

The Origin of Presbyterianism, . . . 9 

CHAPTER II. 

The Presbyterian Principle in Other Churches, . 19 

CHAPTER III. 

Presbyterianism .in the Early Days of the Christian 

Era, . 24 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Dark Ages. — Twilight with Two Stars, . . 29 

CHAPTER V. 
The Waldenses, 32 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Northwestern Star. — The Culdees, . .. .46 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Night of Popery and the Morning Twilight. 

Augustine and Huss, . . . ■ . . . 55 



8 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Ascending Day of the Reformation, 



Page. 

64 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Reformation in Eastern Switzerland — Zwingli, 69 

CHAPTER X. 

The Spiritual Republic Established. — John Calvin 

and Geneva, ....... 76 



CHAPTER XL 

The Mighty Conflict in France, 



87 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Extension of Liberty and Truth to Holland, 



95 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Glimpses East of the Alps and the Rhine, 



. 100 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Scotland. — The Returning Day, 



. 104 



CHAPTER XV. 
John Knox, the Reformer, 



112 



CHAPTER XVI. 
A Long Conflict, . 126 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

"My Kingdom is not of this World." — The Final 

Establishment of this Principle in Scotland, . 139 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Presbyterianism in England, . . , 150 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Presbyterianism in Wales, . 155 

CHAPTER XX. 

Presbyterianism in the Ends of the Earth, . . 162 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Old Principles in a New World, . 170 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Presbyterianism in America before the Revolution, 180 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

From the First General Assembly in the United 
States to the Old and New School Division 
of 1837, 188 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

The Great Disruption in Church and Nation, . 196 

CHAPTER XXV. 

American Presbyterianism after the War of Seces- 
sion, 215 



10 CONTENTS. 

Page. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

The Presbyterian Church and its Sisters in the 

United States, ....... 227 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Universal Presbyterianism, 235 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The Spirit of Presbyterianism, .... 242 



Notes and Statistics of the Reformed Churches 
throughout the "World holding the Presbyte- 
rian System, . . 247 



THE PEOPLE'S 

History of Presbyterianism 

IN ALL AGES. 



T 



CHAPTER I. 

The Origin of Presbyterianism. 
HE principle of Presbyterianism begins with the 
earliest organization of the church of God, and 
runs through its entire history, until the end is reached 
in the Apocalypse, where John saw four-and-twenty 
elders sitting round about the throne, with crowns on 
their heads, in heaven. This is only saying of our 
church what is claimed for its own by every denomina- 
tion, that it is nearest to the church of the Bible. 
Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, 
and all others, claim this for themselves; nor could 
they claim less. Every denomination thinks it sees it- 
self in the Scriptures; and it would have no right to 
exist if it did not. In point of fact, every denomination 
does see itself in the Scriptures, for if it be Christian, it 
is a part of "the Holy Catholic Church," which has ex- 
isted in all ages, and shall endure forever. Each Chris- 
tian denomination contains enough of the essential 
elements of the church to make it a constituent part of 
that body of which Christ is the head. 



10 THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY 

The division of the church into denominations is 
probably not a disadvantage. We are a check upon 
one another, and friendly competition stimulates zeal. 
There need not be union, but there should be unity. 
We should love one another, show reciprocal respect, 
and by the exchange of pulpits, by intercommunion, by 
co-operation in worship and work, recognize each 
other's full membership in the kingdom of Christ. 
That this is not done by all is the shame of Christi- 
anity, and is perhaps the greatest obstacle to the out- 
pouring of the Holy Ghost, by which the final conver- 
sion of the world is to be accomplished. Great pro- 
gress has undoubtedly been made during the last 
quarter of a century in the direction of some such 
unity. The best illustration of the unity and variety of 
the church's parts is found in man himself. "We have 
many members in one body, and all members have not 
the same office : so we, being many, are one body in 
Christ, and every one members one of another." "If 
the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? 
If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?" 
Therefore the Episcopalians should not say to the 
Presbyterians, we have no need of you ; nor the Bap- 
tists to the Methodists, we have no need of you. " Now 
ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." 
There is less of the spirit of disunity than in former 
years. The "members" of Christ's body are yearning 
for one another. When this desire shall be accom- 
plished, the church will stand crowned with strength 
and beauty before the world, and then may come a 
mighty pentecostal baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire, 
followed by the conversion of vast multitudes. Might 



OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 11 

it not bring in the complete conquest of the world to 
Christ? Let us remember his last great sacerdotal 
prayer before the atonement : " That they all may be 
one : as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they 
also may be one in us, that the world may believe that 
thou hast sent me." 

This would not be accomplished by the abandonment 
of our several denominational organizations, but by a 
loving unity that shall make us one in Christ. A great 
deal of the talk about universal union, or consolidation, 
on the part of some denominations, simply means that 
all should come over and join them. We should pray 
to be delivered from such uncharitable charity. The 
Presbyterian Church does not profess to be the whole 
of the church, nor, on the other hand, does it propose 
to apologize for its existence ; but it does claim to be 
the largest Protestant body on earth, and that in its 
organization the great principles of the Scripture plan 
of a church are more completely elaborated than in any 
other, at the same time acknowledging the full church- 
ship of all evangelical denominations ; for no particular 
land of government is necessary to the existence of a 
church, but only the proclamation of the gospel of 
Christ. 

Presbyterianism is not a form, but a principle. The 
forms, however, which result from the application of 
this principle, whilst varying with varied circumstances, 
yet bear a strong resemblance to each other. There 
are three principles of church government: (1), Epis- 
copal, a government by bishops, including the Protes- 
tant Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal, and Catholic 
churches; (2), Congregational, a government by con- 



12 THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY 

gregations, including the Congregational or Indepen- 
dent, and Baptist churches ; and (3), The Presbyterian, 
a government by Presbyteries, including all Presby- 
terian and Reformed churches throughout the world. 
The Lutherans are not wholly Presbyterian, but contain 
elements of Episcopacy and Congregationalism as well 
as Presbytery, though more of the latter. In civil 
government there are two great systems, the monarch- 
ical, or oligarchical, and the republican ; these corres- 
pond substantially with Episcopal and Presbyterian. 
There is and can be no such thing as a congregational 
or purely democratic government in the state, if it be 
composed of a large number of citizens. It is a govern- 
ment by the people without any rulers, or through mere 
proxies. 

Let us have a clear conception as to what a republi- 
can government really is. It is a system in which the 
people elect their rulers, who are not mere proxies, but 
real representatives, empowered to govern, and who are 
amenable, not to the people directly, but to the will of 
the sovereign people, as it is expressed in the constitu- 
tion which they ordained, either directly or by their 
representatives. But Presbyterian, or ecclesiastical 
republicanism, differs from that in the civil government ; 
in the latter all power comes from the people, the 
sovereign people, who ordain the constitution, and elect 
their representatives to rule under it ; but in the church 
there are no sovereign people to ordain a constitution. 
The constitution of the church comes from Christ, in 
whom the sovereignty inheres. The people have the 
privilege of electing their officers ; these officers, how- 
ever, when elected, are not responsible to the electors, 



OF PRESBYTEEIANISM. 13 

but to the constitution which Christ has ordained. The 
constitution of the church is the Word of God, of which 
all church laws and Confessions of Faith are but inter- 
pretations. They are to be obeyed by those who 
voluntarily accept them as interpretations or working 
constitutions, but liable to change as history advances. 
The Bible is the revelation of the divine sovereignty 
and to this infallible standard must all matters, legisla- 
tive, judicial and administrative, be brought for final 
settlement. This is the unchangeable constitution of 
the Christian Bepublic, and never to be amended. Its 
Divine Author said: "Heaven and earth shall pass 
away, but my words shall not pass away." 

Just here it should be plainly declared that the Pres- 
byterian Church holds that any body of people, to- 
gether with their children, organized for work and wor- 
ship and professing the true religion, is a part of the 
visible church of God, whatever form of government 
they maintain, though for their highest efficiency they 
should adopt the Presbyterian principle. The reason 
for this is that, for the maintenance of the doctrines of 
the gospel we have a divine command, but for Presby- 
terian church government only the Scripture example. 
To preach the gospel is the church's charter ; the kind 
of rules by which she does it is of great importance, as 
this book is designed to show, but not absolutely neces- 
sary to its existence as a church. The preaching of the 
gospel is what to do ; church government is how to do 
it. It may be done with greater or less efficiency under 
any kind of government. This is the liberal spirit of 
the Presbyterian Church. 

Eegarded from the divine standpoint, the church is a 



14 THE PEOPLE'S HISTOKY 

kingdom, having Christ for its head ; but, as a visible 
body, in its human administration it is a republic. In 
the light of all that has gone before, let us venture upon 
a definition of our principle of government : 

Presbyterianism is that system in which the chuech 
is regarded as a spiritual commonwealth, whose only 
head is Christ ; and which he governs through repre- 
sentative ELDERS, CALLED BY HIS SPIRIT AND ELECTED BY 
HIS PEOPLE, AND ALL OF EQUAL AUTHORITY, WHICH IS EXER- 
CISED BY THEM ONLY WHEN ORGANIZED INTO AN ASSEMBLY 
OR COURT. 

These representatives are called elders, or presbyters, 
and are of two classes: ruling elders, who only rule, 
and teaching elders, or preachers, who both rule and 
teach. The assemblies of the church are usually com- 
posed of equal numbers of ruling and teaching elders, 
except in case of the lowest, called the Session or Con- 
sistory, where all except the presiding officer, or mod- 
erator, are ruling elders. The teaching elders must be 
set apart for this additional function by an assembly or 
court. 

These assemblies are arranged in the scale of a regu- 
lar gradation, from the Session or Consistory, through 
the Presbytery or Classis, and Synod or Particular 
Synod, to the General Assembly or General Synod, as 
they are named in English or non-English speaking 
countries. They are all Presbyteries, because com- 
posed of presbyters, but there has been a distribution 
of duties, each one having its own province strictly de- 
fined. It is the duty of each higher court to review the 
proceedings of the next lower, and cases may be car- 
ried for trial from the lowest to the highest. 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. IS 

This great principle of church government, which i§' 
usually associated with its twin sister, Calvinistic doc- 
trine, has come down from the earliest times ^prac- 
tised in that church the history of which constitutes: 
the larger portion of the Scriptures. The change of the 
Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first,, 
is nowhere commanded, but it was the practice of the 
apostolic church to keep the day on which the Lord- 
arose from the dead ; therefore we observe the first day. 
In like manner we maintain Presbyterianism because 
we have the example of the church of the Bible. 

The church first existed in the family, the father be- 
ing the representative head. As families multiplied^, 
their several heads, or elders, would naturally form a 
ruling assembly ; but because a body composed of all 
the heads of families in an extensive community would 
be too large for general efficiency, the people would 
elect from the number of older (elders) men certain ones 
conspicuous for piety and wisdom to be their representa- 
tive rulers. They would then have a Presbytery. In 
a simple state of society this body would have charge 
of both religious and secular affairs, but as society ad- 
vances a necessity arises for the separation of the affairs 
of church and state. In Old Testament times they 
were united, but were separated under the new dispen- 
sation. 

We have no record in the Scriptures of the origin of 
government, sacred or secular ; but when Moses came 
upon the stage of history in Egypt, we find Presbyte- 
rianism in full force among the Israelites. God com- 
manded him not to organize anew the nation or the 
church, but to "go and gather the elders of Israel to- 



16 THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY 

getlier," and deliver to them his message. He was 
divinely appointed to lead the people ont of bondage, 
but he was to use the system of government already in 
operation among them. This was a divine endorse- 
ment of the government by assemblies of representative 
elders. In the Presbyterian Church of the present day, 
if a man feels that God has called him to be a minister, 
the "elders of the people" must first sit in judgment 
upon his credentials and qualifications. As cares mul- 
tiplied during the exodus, Moses applied the represen- 
tative principle in the organization of a court of seventy 
elders, very like a General Assembly, to preside over 
the government of the whole people. A similar body 
in the time of Christ was called the Sanhedrim. The 
word "elder," signifying "ruler," is used in the Old 
Testament about one hundred times, and over sixty 
times in the New. Their duties were similar to those 
of elders now, administrative a,n&judidal, to administer 
government and to decide cases. The administrative 
function is seen in their coming together to receive 
Moses; and the judicial (Deut. xix. 11), where they 
were instructed to try men for crime. 

When the priesthood was introduced it did not super- 
sede the eldership. It was a part of the ceremonial 
system of worship, of which the temple afterwards be- 
came the representative. The priest's business was to 
offer sacrifices and to intercede for the people, as a type 
of Christ. But when the Messiah came, and the types 
were fulfilled, there was no further need for priest or 
sacrifice to remind men that he was coming and to illus- 
trate his mission ; so the veil of the temple was rent in 
twain when Christ said, "It is finished!" Then the 






OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 17 

gorgeous vision of priest, sacrifice, and temple passed 
away, God destroying, through the military power of 
Rome, every vestige of the place they had so long made 
glorious in the eyes of all who looked for salvation. 
But there remained still intact the old government by 
representative assemblies of elders. In each synagogue 
there was a bench of elders. The synagogue elders 
were responsible to the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, as we 
learn from The Life qfJosephus, Section xu., and from 
other sources. 

This was Presbyterianism, a government by represen- 
tative assemblies of elders. The men who administered 
the government were often corrupt, but the principle 
was sound, and was never called in question in the 
Scriptures. The church has existed from the begin- 
ning, and it has always exhibited, either in the whole 
or in a part, this principle of church government. Pres- 
byterianism is a principle susceptible of endless variety 
of development and application. It is not a form, nor 
an organization, nor a name. The forms and names 
have changed continually. It may have one assembly 
or a hundred ; they may be called Sanhedrims, General 
Assemblies, General Synods, or may be distinguished 
by any other names. Any Christian Church maintain- 
ing the principle of government by representative as- 
semblies of elders is Presbyterian. But it is only called 
Presbyterian in English-speaking countries, and not 
always in these. In most other countries it is called 
the "Reformed Church" ; as, for example, the Reformed 
Church of France and the Reformed Church of Holland. 
There are also several branches of the Reformed Church 
in the United States. In Italy it is called the "Wal- 



3.8 THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF PRESBYTEEIANISM. 

<clensian," and there is also the "Free Church" of Italy. 
One of its branches in Great Britain is called "The 
Church of Scotland." 

The various members of the great family of Presby- 
terian churches, about sixty-five in number, find their 
unity of government and doctrine realized in the organi- 
sation which embraces them all — " The Alliance of the 
jReformed Churches throughout the World holding the 
Presbyterian System." In this they all meet, by their 
representatives, once in three years. 






CHAPTEE II. 

The Presbyterian Principle in Other Churches, 

FEOM the beginning there have been, as before in- 
timated, two great principles of government con- 
tending for the mastery. They are monarchy and re- 
publicanism. The conflict of these constitutes the 
greater part of the story of the race ; for the records of 
peace have not been written, but the annals of war is the 
history of mankind. The question to be solved has 
ever been, Who are the masters ; are they the people 
or their rulers ? Under a pure monarchy the people are 
the servants ; but under a pure republic the servants are 
those appointed by popular suffrage to perform those 
duties which, because they can only be done efficiently 
by a few, make it necessary that some be selected to 
hold office, and "public office is a public trust." Self- 
government has the endorsement of God in the fact 
that as he constituted the nation of Israel it was based 
on that principle, and when, at their request, God gave 
them a monarchy, it was with a curse attached to it, 
which was terribly fulfilled. But even then self-govern- 
ment was maintained in their religious institutions. 

Read 1 Sam. viii. for an account of the revolution in 
the government : " The elders of Israel said to Samuel, 
Make us a king, to judge us like all the nations." 
The prophet, unwilling to grant this request, laid the 
matter before the Lord, who said unto him, " They have 
not rejected thee, but they have rejected me." Then 
19 



20 the people's history 

follows a catalogue of royal oppressions which should 
come upon them for demanding a king. God said: 
"And ye shall be Ids servants, and ye shall cry out in 
that day because of your king which ye shall have 
chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that 
day." The people had reason bitterly to repent of their 
folly in thus surrendering their God-given rights into 
the hands of one man ; for it was the beginning of a 
series of events which resulted in the utter destruction 
of the nation, and its dispersion throughout the earth. 
The tendency of monarchy, when unrestrained by 
written constitutions and by representative assemblies, 
is reactionary and oppressive ; but a republican govern- 
ment encourages progress. As civilization has ad- 
vanced by the dissemination of sacred and secular 
knowledge, men have been inspired to demand a voice 
in the conduct of their public affairs. Thus the repub- 
lican principle has from the beginning opposed royalty. 
There have been bloody revolutions and temporary re- 
actions ; there have been also peaceful conquests, and, 
not infrequently, counter revolutions, when the condi- 
tion of the people became worse than before they en- 
deavored to improve it ; but a bird's-eye view of history 
shows that there has been a gradual advance of popular 
rights. Very often the people, driven to desperation by 
tyranny, have frantically overthrown their rulers and put 
them to death, in some cases visiting vengeance upon 
the innocent because of the crimes of their ancestors. 
The great French Revolution was this kind of an out- 
burst, when an outraged people arose in their might, 
under a burning sense of injustice, putting to death 
thousands of unoffending persons, perpetrating wrongs 



OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 21 

while endeavoring to redress wrongs, and committing 
crime while attempting to pnnish crime. A similar 
drama was enacted in those events which culminated in 
the dethronement and decapitation of Charles I. of 
England. There was afterwards a reaction, which lasted 
for a time ; but the spell had been broken, the people 
had become possessed of the idea that they were their 
own masters, and with the accession of "William of 
Orange, in 1688, the great principle of popular sov- 
ereignty was imbedded in the British constitution. 
Since then the republican principle has been dominant 
over the monarchical in that government. Moreover, it 
has made advances and encroachments continually from 
that time. Now, Great Britain is a monarchy in form, 
but a republic in the dominant principle of its govern- 
ment. In France, under that splendid despot, the " Ke- 
publican Emperor," Napoleon I., was exhibited a gov- 
ernment republican in form, but extremely monarchical 
in principle. 

These examples show that the forms and the princi- 
ples of government are entirely distinct, and that oppos- 
ing principles may co-exist in the same body, one hav- 
ing the preponderance. The great principle of self- 
government is what mankind contend for, and not a 
name nor a form ; so when the British people gained 
the right to elect those who really ruled them, they did 
not care enough for the name of kingdom to fight about 
it. They had the substance, and wisely left the name 
to take care of itself. So, in the church, the name is of 
little value as compared with the glorious principle for 
which the martyrs gave their lives. 

But be it carefully noted, the Presbyterian Church 



22 the people's histoky 

has not the monopoly of this principle. Presbyterian- 
ism is the opposite of Episcopacy, and yet it can be con- 
ceived that the republican principle might grow up in 
the Episcopal Church; or, on the other hand, that it 
might die out of the Presbyterian body and the mon- 
archical take its place. It may also be conceived that 
neither denomination should be wholly Episcopal or 
Presbyterian — that the two principles should exist to- 
gether in the same body, though one must predominate. 
The Episcopal Church is oligarchical in form, but the 
principle of spiritual republicanism has been making 
inroads upon it, until now the bishops have but little 
more power than the other clergy. The same state- 
ment may be made with reference to the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. The principle of self-government 
has saturated almost the entire body. True, their 
bishops still have the power of appointing and remov- 
ing pastors, which is not republican, but this power is 
limited by the conference, and is exercised in connec- 
tion with a cabinet of advisers. 

As the Episcopalians and Methodists have been pro- 
gressing towards the great Presbyterian principle from 
one direction, in a similar manner have the Congregation- 
alists and Baptists been approaching it from the oppo- 
site quarter. They were originally almost pure demo- 
cracies ; that is, people without any rulers, who made 
their own laws, and administered them without the 
intervention of anything but mere committees. But 
necessities of administration have caused these officers 
to take real governmental power into their hands, though 
usually with the consent of the people. Mr. Spurgeon 
has his congregation organized partly on the Presbyte- 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 23 

Tian principle, and advises others of his denomination 
to do likewise. 

This process will go on. There is an unmistakable 
tendency towards republicanism in church and state. 
This results in part from the example of the Presbyte- 
rian Church, but more from the study of God's Word, 
and from the teachings of the Holy Ghost in actual ex- 
perience. 



CHAPTEE III. 

Peesbyteeianism in the Eaely Days oe the Chbistian 

Era, 

C HEIST did not send out his apostles to found a 
new church, but to extend the old, by preaching 
the gospel, and gathering converts into congregations, 
ordaining them ' ' elders in every church. ' ' (Acts xiv. 23.) 
They followed the time-honored customs of God's people 
in every land whither they went ; and though the Jews 
were on the alert to turn public sentiment against them, 
we nowhere find that they were charged with attempt- 
ing to organize a new church. They carried out the 
old system of government by elders, such as was seen in 
every Jewish synagogue throughout the world. They 
were only extending the church of the fathers among 
all nations, and proclaiming that the promised Messiah 
had come. This was the old church; the Jews, who 
rejected Christ, cast themselves out, and virtually made 
themselves a new body. 

We can discover, on the one hand, no Congregation- 
alism, for "every church" was ruled, not by the people 
directly, but by their representatives ; and on the other 
hand, no Episcopacy, for the congregation was com- 
mitted to the oversight, not of one man, but of several 
"elders." In Acts xx. 28, where the Apostle Paul was 
instructing the elders of the church of Ephesus, whom 
he had requested to come down to Miletus for the pur- 
24 



people's history of presbyterianism. 25 

pose, lie said, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, 
and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath 
made you hishops" {Euigkotiovz). This word was 
translated "overseers" in the old, "King James' Ver- 
sion," but in the new one — prepared principally by Epis- 
copalians — it is correctly rendered "bishops." There 
are many other passages of the same kind, but this one 
is sufficient to show conclusively that "bishop" was 
simply another name for elder, these being "elders" to 
whom the apostle was speaking; for a preceding verse, 
introducing this passage, reads, "And from Miletus he 
sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church''' 

A grand feature of the Presbyterian system is the 
equal authority, in the courts of the church, of all the 
presbyters. It is entirely opposed to the Episcopal dis- 
tinction of bishops, priests, and deacons. Paul shows 
this in 1 Tim. v. 17, "Let the elders that rule well be 
counted worthy of double honor, especially they who 
labor in the word and doctrine." The ministry, as an 
office, "is the first in the church, both for dignity and 
usefulness," but there is equality among all elders in 
the church courts, whether they be ruling or teaching 
elders. In 1 Tim. iv. 14 ordination is shown to be, 
not by one bishop, but by "the laying on of the hands of 
the Presbytery," which was composed of a number of 
elders (presbyters), or bishops, as they were indifferently 
styled. In 2 Tim. i. 6 the apostle includes himself in 
the Presbytery which ordained Timothy, when he ex- 
horts, " Stir up the gift that is in thee by the putting on 
of my hands." The Apostle Peter also says (1 Peter 
v. i.), "The elders which are among you I exhort, who 
am also an elder," 



26 the people's histoey 

The order of apostles was a temporary one, just as 
the priesthood had been, both having grown out of the 
exigencies of their respective periods. The business of 
the priests was to offer sacrifices as types of Christ, 
until he came who is both priest and sacrifice, then, 
their mission being fulfilled, they passed away. The 
apostles likewise were appointed for a temporary pur- 
pose, to be eye-witnesses of the resurrection of Christ 
from the dead. .The order, therefore, could not exist 
after those died who were contemporaries of Christ. 
To be an apostle, a man must have been divinely called 
to that office, and have seen the Lord after his resur- 
rection. In order that Paul might be qualified, he not 
having seen Christ before, the heavens were opened 
that he might look upon him who had been crucified, 
dead and buried. This is plainly implied in 1 Cor. 
ix. 1, where he is vindicating his apostolic authority. 
He says: "Am I not an apostle? .... Have I not 
seen Jesus Christ our Lord?" There could, therefore, 
be no successors to the apostles, as none afterwards 
saw our risen Lord. 

When the apostles, having finished their work, passed 
off the scene, as the priesthood had done before, the 
government of the church remained what it had been 
from the beginning, a government by assemblies of 
elders, or "presbyters." It was a spiritual republic, 
admitting of no distinctions of rank; for, as we have 
seen, even the Apostle Peter, whom Roman Catholics 
claim as the first of the Popes, spake to the elders as 
one of their own number, recognizing the equality of 
all rulers in the church of God. 

We have abundant proof that the organization of the 



OF PRESBYTEEIANISM. 27 

church after the days of the apostles was essentially 
Presbyterian. Clemens Romanus, one of the most cele- 
brated writers of christian antiquity, who was a leading 
presbyter in the congregation at Rome, says, in an ad- 
dress to another church: "It is a shame, my beloved, 
and unworthy of your christian profession to bear, that 
the most firm and ancient church of the Corinthians 
should be led to rise up against the elders. Let the 
flock of Christ enjoy peace with the elders which are 
set over it." These words were written in the last de- 
cade of the first century, and are of immense value in 
establishing our claim that the church of the early ages 
was Presbyterian, because a great number of the then 
existing congregations had been organized under the eye 
of the apostles themselves but a short time before. 

Hippolytus, an eminent ecclesiastic, who lived in the 
latter part of the second and the first half of the third 
century, writes: "The elders cited Noe'tus, who was 
charged with heresy. Having summoned him a second 
time, they condemned him, and cast him out of the 
church." Here is a trial by a Presbytery, as plain al- 
most as words can make it. 

It is with peculiar pleasure that the testimony of a 
great Episcopalian is here introduced. The late Rev. 
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D. D., Dean of Westminster 
Abbey, intimate friend of Queen Victoria, and travelling 
companion of the Prince of Wales, in a public address, 
uttered the following remarkable words: "The most 
learned of all the bishops of England, whose accession 
to the great see of Durham has recently been welcomed 
with rare unanimity by the whole Church of England, 
has, with his characteristic moderation and erudition, 



28 the people's history op peesbyterianism. 

proved beyond dispute, in his celebrated essay attached 
to his edition of St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, 
that the early constitution of the apostolic churches of 
the first century was not that of a single bishop, but oj 
a body of pastors, indifferently styled bishops or presby- 
ters, and that it was not until the very end of the apos- 
tolic age that the office which we now call Episcopacy 
gradually and slowly made its way into Asia Minor; 
that Presbytery was not a later growth out of Episcopacy, 
hut that Episcopacy was a later growth out of Presbytery ; 
that the office which the apostles instituted was a kind 
of rule, not by bishops, but of presbyters ; and that even 
down to the third century presbyters as well as bishops 
possessed the power of nominating and consecrating 
bishops ; and besides, there were, from the commence- 
ment of the middle ages down to the Reformation, large 
exceptions from the principle of Episcopal government 
which can be called by no other name than Presbijterian." 
This statement, coming from Bishop Lightfoot, of 
Durham, "the most learned of all the bishops of the 
Church of England," endorsed by Dean Stanley, who, 
for his elegant diction, his liberal views and scholarly 
attainments, was for many years the favorite preacher 
of the British court and aristocracy, is of course un- 
prejudiced and is an important concession to the anti- 
quity of Presbyterianism, 



CHAPTEE IV. 

The Dark Ages ; Twilight with Two Stars. 

AS time passed on, the desire for pre-eminence, ever 
present in the minds of men, the sin by which 
fell the angels and our first parents, began to assert itself 
in the republic of the church. That which cast down 
the angels from heaven, which ruined paradise, wdrich 
destroyed the nation of Israel — the lust for power — was 
preparing to carry a large part of the church of Christ 
into idolatry, corruption, and apostasy. The pastors 
of large congregations, not by a sudden assumption, 
but gradually, and perhaps almost unconsciously, came 
to exercise authority over those in smaller parishes. 
Being resorted to for advice and assistance b}^ country 
pastors, many of these city ministers believed that they 
had the right to appoint and finally to consecrate men 
to the ministry. This was the germ of Episcopacy, but 
of course it required ages for the innovation to pervade 
any large portion of the world, and to secure its recog- 
nition as a part of the constitution of the church. At 
last, however, it became the general rule. The tendency 
of which Episcopacy was the outgrowth continued to 
develop until it culminated in the establishment of two 
great ecclesiastical empires, corresponding to and hav- 
ing their two head-bishops in the two principal cities 
of the world, Kome and Constantinople. Thus arose 
the Greek and Eoman Catholic Churches. The church 
29 



30 the people's history 

power, which before had existed in solution throughout 
the whole body of believers, at last nearly all crystalized 
around these two centres, and Episcopacy found its com- 
plete development in the Patriarch of Constantinople 
and the Pope of Kome. These two pastorates, by 
gradual encroachments extending through a period of 
several centuries, had gained authority over almost 
the whole christian world. The change of government 
was inevitably accompanied by a change of doctrine, 
and, as the principle of government by the people, 
through their representatives, passed away, nearly all 
the truth that clusters around the doctrine of divine 
sovereignty vanished with it, and a system of salvation 
by works came in its place. Divine sovereignty and re- 
ligious liberty generally stand or fall together, and one 
cannot long exist without the other. 

Then came the dark ages, when the world was fet- 
tered in the chains of ecclesiastical tyranny, and lulled 
to slumber by the beautiful forms and ceremonies super- 
added upon the simplicity of apostolic ordinances. 
But, as in the Old Testament dispensation during the 
days of Elijah, God still reserved to himself a remnant 
who were faithful and refused to recognize idolatry, so 
in the dark ages there were a noble few who were faith- 
ful to his word. To the general rule of obedience to 
the two anti-christs who had usurped the crown-rights 
of Jesus as prophet, priest, and king over his people, 
"there were," in the words of Bishop Lightfoot and 
Dean Stanley, " large exceptions." In the general dark- 
ness there were two stars which refused to be extin- 
guished, but continued to shine as pledges of God's 



OF PEESBYTEBIANISM. 31 

power and of a coming day ; these two stars were the 
Waldenses and the Culdees, the one glistening among 
the rocky pinnacles of the Alps, and the other above 
the islands of the Northwestern sea. 1 

1 Considerable material for the preceding chapters has been drawn 
from the author's work entitled " Presbyterianism for the People.'" For 
a fuller treatment of this subject, see "Presbyterianism the truly Primi- 
tive and Apostolical Constitution of the Church of Christ; " 1835 ; by Eev. 
Samuel Miller, D. D. Also other works by the same author, by Rev. 
Charles Hodge, D. D., and books by many moie writers on church 
polity, both of our own and former times. 



CHAPTER V. 

The Waldenses. 

"Thy slaughtered saints, whose bones 
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold, 
Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old, 
When all our fathers worshiped stocks and stones. " 

—John Milton. 

rpiHE crescent range of the Cottian Alps, in north- 
JL western Italy, encloses a series of valleys of rare 
beauty, which are the home of the Waldenses. Through 
these sequestered shades run the little streams which 
unite, in the plain of Piedmont, to form the river Po. 
This river flows by Turin, across the northern part of 
Italy, into the Adriatic sea. A more picturesque region 
it would be difficult to find in Europe ; but the travellers 
who visit it are not attracted so much by its groves and 
waterfalls, its dark gorges and snow-capped mountains, 
as by the marvellous history of the people who dwell 
among them. In these fastnesses God has preserved a 
little flock of faithful ones, who, through ages of relent- 
less persecution, have defied the power of a hostile 
world, showing at once what faith can do with men, 
and what God will do for faith. 

In former times they were far more numerous than 
now, and extended over not only a considerable portion 
of the plain of Piedmont, but also the western slopes of 
the mountains of Savoy and Dauphiny in France. But 
centuries of persecution by fire and sword have reduced 
32 



THE people's histoby oe pbesbytebianism. 33 

their numbers to about twenty-three thousand persons, 
dwelling in what is called the Vaudois country, a dis- 
trict eighteen miles long by fourteen in width. Their 
religious capital is the lovely hamlet of Torre-Pellice 
(pronounced Torry-Pelleechy), where are maintained 
their principal theological seminary and other institu- 
tions. The pastors are called Barbas, and each congre- 
gation has a session or consistory, composed of Preyre 
(presbyters), as well as a board of deacons. The whole 
Waldensian Church is governed by a Synod, which meets 
usually once a year, in September, except in times of 
severe persecution, when the meetings have been held 
in midwinter, their valleys then being made inaccessible 
by snow and ice. 

Koman Catholic writers as far back as 1250, nearly 
three hundred years before the Reformation under Cal- 
vin and Luther, described the Waldenses as the most 
ancient of all heretics, though unable to tell why or how 
they originated. The Waldenses themselves claim de- 
scent from the apostolic age, and decline to be called 
" Reformed," " because," they say, " we have never been 
deformed." They claim as among their ancestors those 
christians who fled from Rome during the persecutions 
of Nero, and say that missionaries, perhaps some of the 
apostles themselves, on their way to Gaul and Spain, 
the main route to which lay by their country, preached 
the gospel in their valleys. These declarations were 
made in an address to Francis I. in 1544, while they 
were in full possession of their records. In this docu- 
ment they state that their faith is " entirely such as they 
have received from hand to hand from their ancestors, 
according as their predecessors, in all times and in all 



34 the people's histoey 

ages, had taught them it." In nearly all the confessions 
which from time to time they addressed to their rulers 
craving liberty to. worship God, they have insisted upon 
a descent "from all time, from time immemorial" 
Their French translation of the Bible, prepared by 
Robert Olivetan, by order of the Synod, in 1535, con- 
tains a preface dedicating it to God. "It is to thee 
alone I present this precious treasure, in the name of 
a certain poor people, thy friends and brethren in 
Jesus Christ, who, ever since they were blessed and 
enriched with it by the apostles and ambassadors of 
Christ, have still possessed and enjoyed the same" 

That the history of the Waldenses, as any kind of an 
organized body, can be traced further back than the 
twelfth century, is not admitted by modern writers of 
church history ; and it is asserted that they did not ex- 
ist before the days of Peter Waldo of Lyons, from whose 
labors, it is alleged by some, they sprang. This re- 
markable man, a rich merchant, who lived three hun- 
dred years before the Reformation, sold all his posses- 
sions and devoted his property and life to the proclama- 
tion of the gospel. He and his followers were banished, 
and scattered all over southeastern France, as well as 
contiguous portions of Italy and Switzerland, sowing 
the good seed wherever they went. This was in the 
latter part of the twelfth century ; so that, even granting 
that the Waldenses originated with Peter Waldo, they 
still can claim to be the oldest of all the Reformed 
churches on the continent of Europe, and, with the 
Bohemians and Moravians, the only mediaeval dissenters 
who have maintained their organic existence through 
all persecutions and changes down to the present time. 



OF PKESBYTERIANISM. 35 

But it seems quite certain that the doctrines of the 
Scriptures, after the Presbyterian form, were held with 
more or less definiteness, in fundamental divergence 
from the Church of Kome, by communities in north- 
western Italy long before the preaching of Waldo. 
"With how much brightness the star of truth glimmered 
in the dim past in this most interesting country it may 
not be possible to show, but it is more than probable 
that it has never been wholly extinguished from the 
apostolic era to this day.. 

The ancient custom was for every minister to spend 
at least two years in missionary labors. They went two 
and two, a Regidor, and a Coadjuteur, all over Italy, and, 
indeed, as far north as Germany. At one period their 
missionaries could travel from Florence to Cologne, 
stopping every night with their friends on the way. 
They practiced medicine and other useful arts for a 
support that they might preach the gospel, and were 
aided by humble colporteurs, or travelling pedlars, who 
distributed copies of the word of God. At one time 
they had six thousand adherents in Venice, and as many 
in Genoa. 

The following verses, by the poet Whittier, aptly show 
the life and work of these colporteurs : 

THE VAUDOIS MISSIONARY. 

1 ' O, lady fair, these silks of mine 

Are beautiful and rare — 
The richest web of Indian loom 

Which beauty's self might wear. 
And these pearls are pure and mild to behold, 

And with radiant light they vie ; 
I have brought them with ms a weary way: 

Will my gentle lady buy ?" 



38 the people's history 

And the lady smiled on the worn old man, 

Through the dark and clustering curls 
Which veiled her brow as she bent to view 

His silk and glittering pearls; 
And she placed their price in the old man's hand, 

And lightly turned away ; 
But she paused at the wanderer's earnest call — 

"My gentle lady, stay!" 
" O lady fair, I have yet a gem 

Which a purer lustre flings 
Than the diamond flash of the jewelled crown 

On the lofty brow of kings ; 
A wonderful pearl of exceeding price, 

Whose virtue shall not decay ; 
Whose light shall be as a spell to thee, 

And a blessing on thy way!" 
The lady glanced at the mirroring steel, 

Where her youthful form was seen, 
Where her eyes shone clear and her dark locks waved 

Their clasping pearls between; 
"Bring forth thy pearl of exceeding worth, 

Thou traveller gray and old, 
And name the price of thy precious gem, 

And my pages shall count thy gold!" 
The cloud went off from the pilgrim's brow, 

As a small and meagre book, 
Unchased with gold or diamond gem, 

From his folding robe he took : 
" Here, lady fair, is the pearl of price — 

May it prove as such to thee ! 
Nay, keep thy gold — I ask it not — 

For the Word of God is free!" 

The hoary traveller went his way, 

But the gift he left behind 
Hath had its pure and perfect work 

On that high-born maiden's mind; 
And she hath turned from her pride of sin 

To the lowliness of truth, 
And given her human heart to God 

In its beautiful hour of youth. 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 37 

And she hath left the old gray walls 

Where an evil faith hath power, 
The courtly knights of her father's train, 

And the maidens of her bower ; 
And she hath gone to the Vaudois vale, 

By lordly feet untrod, 
Where the poor and needy of earth are rich 

In the perfect love of God ! 

The first determined effort of the secular power to 
destroy the Waldenses dates from 1209, three hundred 
and fifty years before the first General Assembly met in 
Edinburgh, Scotland. The Emperor Otho conferred 
upon the Archbishop of Turin authority to annihilate 
them by force of arms ; but they were protected by the 
hand of God, and the attempt was a failure. And so 
has been every similar attempt to destroy this poor 
little Alpine people. Empires have risen and fallen; 
dynasties have come and gone; the whole face of the 
world has changed again and again; but this heroic 
band has not been conquered, nor has their star 
ceased to shine above the snowy pinnacles of the Alps. 

Passing over a period of two centuries, for in a work 
like this the different persecutions, which seldom ceased 
altogether, cannot all even be mentioned, we come to the 
year 1476, seven years before the birth of Martin Luther. 
Yolande, widow of Amadeus IX., a good Duke of Savoy, 
and regent of his dominions, a cruel woman, undertook 
in that year to bring all the Waldenses into the bosom 
of the Church of Rome. Misfortunes in her own gov- 
ernment, which resulted in her being made a prisoner 
by the Duke of Burgundy, postponed the execution of 
her scheme for ten years, when Charles, Yolande's son, 
directed inquiry to be made as to why his mother's com- 



38 the people's history 

mancl to recant had been disobeyed. When the Wal- 
denses stoutly refused to give up their faith, demanding 
instead that the Church of Rome should return to the 
purity of the gospel, Pope Innocent VIII. fulminated 
against them a bull of extermination, calling upon all 
temporal powers to combine for their utter destruction 
from the face of the earth. This infamous bull, issued 
by an alleged vicar of the meek and lowly Jesus, invited 
all Catholics to take up arms against these innocent peo- 
ple, " absolving from all ecclesiastical pains and penal- 
ties, general and particular, those who should take up 
the cross; releasing them from any oaths they might 
have taken ; legitimizing their title to any property they 
might have illegally acquired ; and promising remission 
of sins to such as should kill any heretic. It annulled 
all contracts made in favor of the Waldenses ; ordered 
their domestics to abandon them, forbade all persons to 
give them any aid whatever, and empowered all per- 
sons to take possession of their property." 

Eighteen thousand regular troops were contributed 
by the sovereign of Piedmont and the king of France, 
and in their train came a host of vagabonds, fanatics, 
pillagers, thieves, assassins, to prey upon the poor Wal- 
denses. It did seem as if the hour of their doom had 
struck. But no ; there is a God in heaven who hears 
the cry of the lowly and the oppressed. A terrible con- 
flict ensued, in which the people of the valleys were 
victorious over the marauders, and put them to rout. 
One standard bearer alone remained, concealed for some 
da\s, in a ravine; but at length, starving and freezing, 
he surrendered himself to the Waldensians, who gave 
him food and shelter, and sent him back to his friends. 



OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 39 

On the western or French slopes of the mountains, as 
far back as 1238, the faithful were persecuted by Rome, 
and in the following century there were two hundred and 
thirty burned at one time, in front of the cathedral of 
Embrun. After that a war between England and France 
caused them to have rest for a time, but in 1488, the same 
papal legate, Cataneo, who led the expedition just de- 
scribed, which resulted so disastrously, on the east side 
of the mountains, came over to the west to the Val Louise, 
to exterminate the heretics there. Unfortunately he was 
more successful this time. The people betook them- 
selves en masse to a cave, carrying all their little ones 
and the greater part of their movable substance with 
them. The cruel papists followed them, and rilling the 
mouth of the cavern with wood, set fire to it, and smoth- 
ered three thousand persons, the entire population of the 
valley. Four hundred infants were found in their cra- 
dles or wrapped in the cold embraces of their mothers, 
all dead together, the work of these fiendish men, who 
claimed to be the ministers of the Prince of Peace. 

Cataneo then turned to some neighboring valleys for 
a similar work, but whereas hundreds were slaughtered, 
a remnant survived, and though their Bibles were 
ordered to be destroyed, a few remained ; and lest these 
should be taken also, and the word of God be lost to 
them entirely, they divided up the Scriptures into por- 
tions, to be memorized by the young, each person learn- 
ing a part, that in every neighborhood there might be 
those who could at any time recite or reproduce the 
whole book. It is an interesting fact that the version of 
Robert Olivetan, mentioned before, was the first French 
translation of the entire Bible given to the world. 



40 the people's history 

Clement VIII., in the year before his death, offered 
plenary indulgence to every Waldensian in French ter- 
ritory, who would recant and enter the Church of Rome. 
But not one responded. A horrible persecution fol- 
lowed in 1545. Twenty-two villages in Provence 
were burnt down, four thousand persons were killed, 
and the congregations well-nigh destroyed. About 
four thousand took refuge in flight, but afterwards re- 
turned, to drag out a miserable existence in poverty and 
want. During this persecution, the most inhuman 
tortures were inflicted upon the Waldensians; little 
children were torn from their mother's breasts, to perish 
in their presence ; old men and the wounded and dying 
were thrown to swine to be devoured ; women who had 
fled for refuge to churches were brutally ravished, and 
flung headlong out of the windows of the towers, or 
over precipices ; and every refinement of cruelty prac- 
ticed which the ingenuity of man could devise. 

In 1530, the Waldenses living on the French side of 
the Alps sent George Morel and Pierre Masson to the 
Swiss and German Reformers, to lay before them a 
statement as to the condition of their church, and ask 
explanation of certain doctrines. On their return, 
Masson was seized and beheaded at Dijon, but Morel 
made his way home. He laid before his people a 
statement of what he had seen and heard, and such a 
profound impression was made that it was determined 
to call a Synod to consider the doctrinal statements 
brought from the North. Farel, who was the prede- 
cessor, and afterwards the coadjutor of Calvin in 
Geneva, was present. The doctrinal system which the 
Synod adopted showed the influence of the Swiss Re- 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 41 

formers, and the hand of Farel is clearly seen in some 
cf its declarations. 

In 1560 a decree was issned that none but Roman 
Catholic preachers should be heard in the valleys ; but 
when the attempt was made to carry out this order, the 
Waldenses made successful resistance, and in 1561 
gained the privilege of freedom to worship in a limited 
space. The agreement on the part of the government 
was not kept, and they were soon again plunged into 
afflictions. In Calabria men, women and children were 
butchered indiscriminately, and many that were spared 
were carried on board the Spanish galleys, or sold as 
slaves. Only in the valleys of the Alps did the true 
religion survive the two hundred years of fiery trial, 
and that through unspeakable suffering. In 1630 the 
plague was brought among them by foreign soldiers, 
and in one year more than ten thousand persons died. 
Only two pastors were left, and it was necessary to im- 
port ministers from France. After a time, however, a 
new corps of native pastors were educated and in- 
stalled. 

The year 1655 is a memorable one in the annals of 
the Waldenses. Religious bigotry and cruelty over- 
leaped all bounds, and massacres, too horrible to be de- 
scribed, took place among them. In some villages 
every' house and every chamber was the scene of lust 
and murder. Hell seemed to have emptied its demons 
into the brutal horde who ravaged the homes of the 
people of God. It became the scandal of Christendom, 
the civilized world was incensed, and humanity out- 
raged could bear no more. Oliver Cromwell, Lord 
Protector of England, at the solicitation of his illustri- 



42 tee people's histoey 

ous secretary, John Milton, interfered with great energy, 
and commanded their persecutors to "let those men 
alone," or they would feel the weight of England's 
power. They knew that this came from one whom it 
would be dangerous to trifle with, and prudently de- 
sisted from the mad carnival of blood. 

Cromwell sent a gift of £30,000 for the relief of the 
suffering, and offered them a home in Ireland. Differ- 
ent would have been the subsequent history of the 
Emerald Isle had this offer been accepted by these 
brave and thrifty people. The Waldenses still hold 
Cromwell and Milton in honor on account of this gener- 
ous kindness, and on the walls of their theological col- 
lege at Torre-Pellice is now a large engraving, repre- 
senting "The Uncrowned King" and his secretary, the 
poet of Paradise Lost. The struggles of these people 
during those terrible times, under the leadership of Cap- 
tain Gianavel, a name that belongs to fame, constitute 
one of the most pathetic passages in the history of 
earth's heroes. A temporary lull followed, extending 
up to 1685. When the eye of the reader of history 
touches that date it beholds behind it the fearful words, 
"Kevocation of the edict of Nantes." This famous 
edict, granting a certain amount of religious liberty to 
French subjects, had been signed by Henry IV., at 
Nantes, in April, 1598. Now, nearly a hundred' years 
afterwards, Louis XIV., a man of surpassing intellect 
and power, sought to atone for his wicked life by root- 
ing out the Huguenots from his dominions. He had 
hardly begun this cruel war upon his own people when 
he wrote to young Victor Amandeus II., Duke of Savoy, 
to use against the Waldenses the same measures adopted 



OF PBESBYTEEIANISM. 43 

for the destruction of the Huguenots. On the 31st of 
January, 1686, the duke issued a proclamation, com- 
manding all Waldenses to join the Roman Church, or 
leave the country in fifteen days. They refused to do 
either and a French army was sent against them, when, 
after a heroic struggle, they were forced to surrender. 
Thousands now were sent into exile. About twenty-six 
hundred settled in Geneva, and colonies were estab- 
lished in various parts of Germany. But the love of 
country was too strong for them to be easily domesti- 
cated in foreign lands, and home sickness compelled 
many of the emigrants to return. In the summer of 
1689 about nine hundred Waldenses, headed by their 
pastor, Henry Arnaud, forced their way back from 
Switzerland, through enormous sufferings and dangers, 
to their native valleys. 

When Napoleon Buonaparte became master of Italy, 
brighter days dawned. This great warrior took special 
interest in the Waldenses, and gave them the constitu- 
tion of the Reformed Church of France. With the 
downfall of Napoleon came a return of persecution, 
but, on the intervention of England and Prussia, they 
were established by an edict, in 1816, in the enjoyment 
of their liberties. In 1848 the Waldenses were placed 
upon the same footing with all the other people of the 
country, and the great conflict of ages was ended. They 
then began again, and have continued up to the present 
day, the work of extending the knowledge of the Scrip- 
tures throughout Italy. The blessing of God rests 
upon their labors, and they have been greatly prospered. 
In almost every town of importance they have estab- 
lished churches. Outside of their valleys they have 



44 the people's history 

forty-one congregations, thirty-four missionary stations, 
and one hundred and fifty isolated places visited by 
their missionaries. They seem to have a great work to 
do in the redemption of beautiful Italy from the thral- 
dom of popery. 

This historic church, called now, more commonly, 
"Vaudois," is a member of the great "Alliance of the 
Reformed Churches holding the Presbyterian System," 
and is represented in the triennial councils of this body, 
which includes all Presbyterians throughout the world. 

The Vaudois Church possesses the following public 
institutions: (1,) A school of theology at Florence; 
three years' course of study; average number of stu- 
dents, twelve to fifteen. (2,) A college for theological 
studies ; eight years' study ; sixty to eighty pupils ; at 
Torre-Pellice. (3,) A chapel of ease for the college, or 
Latin school; three years' course; fifteen to twenty 
pupils; at Pomaret. (4,) A normal school to train 
school-masters; four years' course; pupils, thirty; at 
Torre-Pellice. (5,) A superior school for young girls; 
five years' study; average, seventy pupils; at Torre- 
Pellice. (6,) A hospital for the sick at Torre-Pellice. 
(7,) Another hospital at Pomaret. (8,) An orphanage 
for fifty young girls near Torre-Pellice. 

Except the Holy Land, there is no portion of the 
earth more interesting, in connection with the history 
of the church of God, than the Waldensian valleys of 
northwestern Italy, the home of the "Israel of the 
Alps." 

"The Free Church of Italy" is another Presbyterian 
body in the land of the olive and vine. It has congre- 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 45 

gations in nearly all the important cities of the country, 
and is doing a great work. A movement has been on 
foot for a long time, not yet successful, for a union of 
the Waldenses or Vaudois and the Free Church of Italy 
in one great Italian ehxj:elu 



CHAPTEll YL 

The Northwestern Star. — The Culdees. 

OFF the west coast of Scotland, in the midst of a 
proverbially stormy sea, lies a small island, three 
miles long by one-and-a-half wide, called Iona. This 
island was, in the early centuries, the light which shone 
upon all the northern countries round about. Dr. John- 
son, who had no love for anything Scotch, said, "That 
man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not 
gain force on the plains of Marathon, or whose piety 
would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona!" 
Wordsworth calls it the " Glory of the West," and sings : 

"lona's saints, forgetting not past days, 

Garlands shall wear of amaranthine bloom, 
While heaven's vast sea of voices chants their praise. 
Homeward we turn, isle of Columba's cell, 

Where christian piety's soul-cheering spark 
(Kindled from heaven between the light and dark 
Of time) shone like the morning star, farewell ! " 

On this island, adorned with the perfection of natural 
beauty, around which ever thunder the restless waves, 
was the burial place of the Scottish kings. Here was 
the grave of Kenneth, the first king of Scotland ; and 
Shakespeare makes Macduff say of the murdered Dun- 
can, he was "carried to Colmes Kill, the sacred store- 
house of his predecessors, and guardian of his bones." 
And Colmes Kill, or Iona, at last received also the body 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 47 

of Macbeth. The reason it became the burial place of 
royalty was because it was the centre and source of the 
religion of their ancestors, and the old ruins of its re- 
ligious edifices possessed a sacredness derived from 
their important place in history. It has long been a 
custom to lay the ashes of the dead in a church-yard 
beneath the shadow of the house of God. It was from 
Iona Scotland received the gospel, through the agency 
of the Culdee Church ; and not only Scotland, but parts 
of England, Ireland, many smaller islands of the British 
group, and even places on the northern shores of the 
continent, were visited by their missionaries. Tertul- 
lian, the great christian writer of the second century, 
who was born about sixty years after the death of John, 
the last of the apostles, says of Scotland : " Britanorum 
inaccessa Romanis loca Christo vero subdita" — "those 
parts of Britain (i. e., northern Scotland) that were in- 
accessible to the Bomans had become subject to Christ." 
Many historians contend that the Christianity of these 
islands did not come by way of Borne, but was imported 
direct by missionaries from Asia Minor. The historian, 
Neander, says that "the peculiarity of the later British 
church is evidence against its origin from Borne; for 
in many ritual matters it departed from the usage of 
the Bomish church, and agreed much more nearly with 
the churches of Asia Minor. It withstood for a long 
time the authority of the Bomish papacy. This circum- 
stance would seem to indicate that the Britons had re- 
ceived their Christianity, either immediately or through 
Gaul, from Asia Minor, a thing quite possible by means 
of commercial intercourse." Spottiswood, the Scottish 
historian, writes: "I verily think that, under Domi- 



48 the people's history 

tian's persecutions, some of John's disciples first 
preached the gospel in this kingdom." Buchanan, in 
his "History of Scotland," says, "The Scots were 
taught Christianity by the disciples of the Apostle John ;" 
and that " many christians of Britain, fearing the cruelty 
of Domitian, took their journey to Scotland, of whom 
many famous, both in learning and integrity of life, 
stayed and fixed their habitation therein." The weight 
of historical testimony seems to be in favor of the view 
that Christianity was introduced into Scotland very soon 
after the apostolic era. 

The early Church of Scotland was largely Presby- 
terian in its doctrine and government. By the invasion 
of the Saxons, England was again made heathen, but 
Caledonia was not conquered by them any more than 
by the Bomans, and Christianity continued to flourish 
there and in Ireland after it had been suppressed in 
the South. Parts of Ireland and Scotland in those 
days were inhabited, among other races, by the Celts. 
It is an interesting fact that the patron saint of Ireland, 
St. Patrick, was a Scotchman, while St. Columba, the 
great missionary of Scotland, was an Irishman of the 
family of the kings of Ulster. St. Patrick did not in- 
troduce Christianity into Ireland, though he preached 
the gospel, and did much for the religious advancement 
of the people. It had existed there several centuries 
before. He flourished about the middle of the fifth 
century, and died 465 A. D., and history shows that he 
was far more like a Presbyterian than a Roman Catholic. 

A hundred years afterwards, 563 A. D., Columba 
gained possession of Iona, and made it the headquarters 
of a great missionary work for the islands and Scotland. 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 49 

"He was a man of lofty stature and noble bearing; 
could express himself with ease and gracefulness, and 
had a clear, commanding voice. He had quick per- 
ception and great force of character, one of those mas- 
terful minds which mould and sway others by mere 
force of contact." He was devoted to the study of 
God's word, and spent much time in copying it, as also 
in secret prayer. An imperious temper, which he did 
not always succeed in curbing, caused him to be, not 
only an object of terror to his enemies, but of awe to 
his friends. Altogether his character was a noble one, 
and the work he accomplished entitles him to be called 
the apostle of Caledonia. In company with twelve 
companions from Ireland, he established a mission sta- 
tion and college on Iona. Some writers have spoken 
of this as a monastery, and of those who inhabited it 
as monks ; but the fact that they were allowed to marry, 
and that many of them did have wives, is sufficient 
proof to the contrary. This college and mission sent 
out preachers over the whole of Scotland, converting 
its inhabitants to Christianity, through parts of Britain, 
France, Germany and Switzerland, doing more during 
the sixth, seventh and eighth centuries to spread the 
knowledge of a pure gospel than all other agencies 
combined. It was the great missionary organization 
of those ages. 

Milman, in his " Latin Christianity," says that when 
these missionaries from the North encountered in Eng- 
land those from Kome, they could not agree, and that 
"they were opposed on certain points of discipline, 
hardly of less importance than vital truths of the gos- 
pel." King Oswald, of Northumbria, who had before 



50 the people's history 

found shelter with the Culdees in Iona, and had in- 
vited them down to christianize his people, was at 
length persuaded to commit their religious instruction 
to the Koman monks, and the Culdee missionaries were 
obliged to retire to the North. Neander, in writing of 
this conflict, says, "It became necessary for men to 
decide between Roman and Scottish church influences ; 
and the manner in which this decision was made could 
not fail to be attended with the most important effects 
in the shaping of ecclesiastical relations over all Eng- 
land ; for had the Scottish tendency prevailed, England 
would have obtained a more free church constitution, 
and a reaction against the Romish hierarchical system 
would have continued to go forth from this quarter." 
It is clear that the Church of Scotland and that of 
Rome did contend in those early days for possession 
of England, and that Rome won the day, but only for 
England. It is also plain that the Scottish church is 
older than the English, and that it had preached the 
gospel to the English, as an old Episcopal writer says, 
"before the monk Augustine and his successors sowed 
their tares among them." The church of that early 
time was Culdee, and the Culdee church was substan- 
stantially Presbyterian. Archbishop Usher writes: 
" We read in Nennius that at the beginning St. Patrick 
founded (in Ireland) three hundred and sixty-five 
churches, and ordained three hundred and sixty-five 
bishops, and three thousand presbyters or elders." As 
there were three hundred and sixty-five bishops and 
three hundred and sixty -five churches, it is clear that 
these bishops were just what Presbyterian bishops are 
now — pastors, and nothing more. This was in Ireland, 



OF PKESBYTEEIANISM. 51 

but St. Patrick of course established the same church 
government in which he had been trained in his native 
country, Scotland. Bishop Stillingfleet says: "If we 
may believe their own historians, the Church of Scot- 
land was governed by their Culdei, as they called their 
presbyters, without any (prelatical) bishop over them.'* 
A Komish bishop, named Palladius, was sent up to 
Scotland in the fifth century, but the people refused to 
recognize his authority, and rejected him. Bede, 
though indignant at their repudiation of the authority 
of the Bomish bishop, testifies that "they preached 
only such works of charity and piety as they could 
learn from the prophetical, evangelical and apostolical 
writings." The English writers of that age bear testi- 
mony to "their rejection of Bomish ceremonies, doc- 
trines and traditions, the nakedness of their forms of 
worship, and the republican character of their govern- 
ment." DAubigne says: "Iona, governed by a simple 
elder, had become a missionary college. It has been 
called sometimes a monastery, but the dwelling of the 
grandson of Fergus (Columba) in no wise resembled 
the popish convents. When its youthful inmates de- 
sired to spread the knowledge of Jesus Christ, they 
thought not of going elsewhere for Episcopal ordina- 
tion. Kneeling in the chapel of Icolmkill, they were 
set apart by the laying on of the hands of the elders ; 
they were called bishops, but remained obedient to the 
elder or presbyter of Iona. 

We select one more from the multitude of witnesses 
who testify to the Presbyterianism of the Culclee Church. 
Ebrard declares that it was " evangelical, not only be- 
cause it was free and independent of Borne, and when 



52 the people's histoey 

the papal church came into contact with it, always and 
obstinately repudiated its authority under appeal to the 
single and supreme authority of the Holy Scriptures^ 
but above all, because of its inner life it was penetrated 
throughout by the main principles of the evangelical 
church." 

For five hundred years the grand old Culdee Church 
struggled against the gigantic power of Rome, and 
popery was at last established in Scotland, not by the 
consent of the people, but by King David I., in A. D. 
1150, and the final overthrow of the ancient order did 
not take place until more than a hundred years after- 
wards, when the Culdees of St. Andrews w T ere sup- 
pressed, A. D. 1297. But after that many of these 
faithful men continued to labor through the country as 
individuals, and in remote places they kept alive the 
pure religion of their fathers. Dr. Smith, in his " Life 
of Columba," says : " The reign of terror in these lands 
was very short, and the darkness of its night was inter- 
mixed with many stars." In the next century, in the 
year 1324 A. D., Pope John XXII., in his bull for 
anointing King Robert Bruce, complained that there 
were still many heretics in Scotland. Other Romish 
writers alleged the existence of the old heresy in parts 
of the country. In 1422 James Risby, and in 1431 
Paul Craw, were put to death for holding these doc- 
trines In the glens of Scotland, as in the valleys of 
Piedmont, small bands could still be found looking to 
Jesus Christ as the only mediator between God and 
man. Hetherington, in his " History of the Church of 
Scotland," declares that "popery had not been able 
wholly to exterminate the purer faith and simpler sys- 



OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 53 

tern of the ancient Culdees, especially in Ayrshire, and 
perhaps also in Fife — the districts adjacent to St. An- 
drews and Iona, the earliest abodes and the latest re- 
treats of primitive Christianity in Scotland," and that " the 
doctrines of the Culdees continued to survive long after 
the suppression of their forms of church government. 

McLauchlan, the latest historian of the Culdee Church, 
after an exhaustive investigation of the whole matter, 
makes the following concluding statement : "It requires 
but little acquaintance with Scottish history to observe 
that the principles of the old Culdee Church never were 
eradicated ; that during the reign of the Eoman Church in 
the kingdom, they continued to exist, exhibiting them- 
selves occasionally in such outbreaks as the letter of 
King Eobert Bruce and his nobles to Pope John, on 
tlie uprising of the Lollards of Kyle, and finally culmi- 
nating in the events of the Scottish Eeformation. Those 
principles had regard, above all things, to the indepen- 
dence of the ancient Scottish kingdom and church. 
They exist still, fresh and vigorous as ever, in the Scot- 
tish mind ; nor is it easy to say for how much of what 
now distinguishes Scotland ecclesiastically, she is in- 
debted to the ancient Culdee Church. One thing is 
plain, that notwithstanding the claims of the Church of 
Kome and its hierarchical organizations to antiquity in 
Scotland, she can only claim four hundred of the eigh- 
teen hundred years that have elapsed since the plant- 
ing of Christianity in the kingdom, viz., the period be- 
tween A. D. 1150, when David established her, and 
A. D. 1550, when his establishment was overthrown by 
the resuscitation of the old Scottish principles at the 
Reformation." 



54 the people's history of presbyterianism. 

When the Reformation of the sixteenth century be- 
came established in Scotland, it was not, as in England, 
under the patronage of kings and the government, but 
was from the people, in many of whose minds the em- 
bers of religious liberty still glowed, and they forced 
Presbyterianism upon their rulers, as their rulers had 
formerly forced popery upon them. The Reformation 
in England was largely controlled by the throne, but in 
Scotland it was from the people to the throne ; so in the 
one case it kept the form of Episcopacy, or royalty, while 
in the other its principle was self-government, or Pres- 
byterianism. 

The object of this chapter is to show that the early 
Christianity of Scotland was essentially Presbyterian, 
-and that it was brought, not from Rome, but from Asia 
Minor; that it subsisted down to the middle of the 
twelfth century ; that even then it was not wholly de- 
stroyed ; and that, after four hundred years of popish 
rule, it burst forth again in full power, and has con- 
tinued to flourish to the present day. So we see there 
were at least two stars, the Waldenses and the Culdees, 
shining in the gloomy night of the dark ages. God has 
never left himself without a witness from the days of 
Adam, nor ever will, till time shall be no more. 



CHAPTEE VII. 

The Night of Popery and the Morning Twilight. 
Augustine and Huss. 

THE great revolutions of history have not come about 
in most cases by sudden and startling changes, but 
by gradual processes. This has been particularly charac- 
teristic of revolutions which have gone backward : those 
slow readjustments whereby the liberties of the people 
have been silently absorbed by an ambitious power. 
The despotism of popery did not spring up in a night. 
It was impossible that the great republic of the chris- 
tian church of the early centuries should be, by one 
stroke, divested of its inherent liberty. The pastor of 
the congregation at Rome began to claim authority 
over his brethren very far back in ancient history, but 
not until the eighth century were his pretensions re- 
cognized and admitted by the church at large. Nor 
was .it then without earnest and determined opposition. 
It was not to be expected that such assumptions as 
those put forth by the rising ecclesiastical monarchy 
would be willingly conceded. They were met by oppo- 
sition, determined and persistent, the destruction of 
which is a history of persecution and blood. 

As the old Roman empire fell to pieces from decay, 

a new empire arose out of its ruins, and that was an 

ecclesiastical one. Instead of a Caesar, dictating to the 

nations, we have an alleged follower of him who said, 

55 



56 the people's history 

"My kingdom is not of this world," claiming authority 
over kings, not only assuming the right to control the 
consciences of God's people, but also to say what civil 
rulers they should serve, thus appropriating to himself 
all power, secular and sacred. In the sphere of re- 
ligion, the Pope took the place of Christ, who rules his 
church in the exercise of three great offices, those of a 
prophet, a priest, and a king, thus realizing completely 
the idea of an anti-christ or usurper. Do they not claim 
that the mass is a perpetual sacrifice offered for the sins 
of men by priests who derive their authority from the 
Pope ? Do they not likewise claim the right of autho- 
ritative intercession, and of conferring the forgiveness 
of sins ? As the prophet of the church, does he not set 
himself up as the great teacher, claiming infallibility ? 
And as a king, does he not exercise an authority abso- 
lute and final over all his subjects, claiming power for 
this world and also for the next ? Though this power 
had been boldly claimed for centuries, it was not for- 
mally consented to in its full extent by the church, as 
an organized body, until 1546, the year of Luther's 
death, at the Council of Trent; nor was it fully and 
clearly stated in all its hideousness until the promulga- 
tion of the decree of Papal Infallibility in 1870, by the 
Vatican Council at Eome. This, was not the culmina- 
tion of the power of popery ; it had culminated long 
ago, and begun to decay as one of the great forces of 
Christendom. It has never recovered from the stagger- 
ing blow dealt by the Reformation in the sixteenth cen- 
tury, and it never will. The council at Trent, in 1546, 
and that of 1870, in Eome, were but convulsive efforts 
to brace up, by boldly stating its pretensions, a vast 



OF PEESBYTEEIANISM. 57 

"body which was beginning to feel the chill of old age 
and decay. 

But the despotism of Rome has not at any time been 
consented to by every part of the church. The vast 
body of the Greek Church, crystalized about the 
Patriarchate of Constantinople by a similar process of 
development, which resulted in the establishment of a 
rival ecclesiastical empire in the east, nearly, if not 
quite as anti-christian in its assumptions as that of the 
papacy. God, however, who lives and reigns on earth, 
reserved to himself faithful bands of followers, probably 
much larger than is generally known, in secluded spots, 
who contended for the truth at the risk, and often at the 
cost, of their lives. We are not to understand that up 
to the Reformation period there were no christians. 
There were thousands of them in Scotland, in the Alps, 
as well as perhaps in other divinely favored places, and 
multitudes, even in the Church of Rome itself, who, in 
the midst of superstition and tyranny, still held the es- 
sential truths of the gospel, and refused to receive the 
authority of a pope in place of that of Christ. 

Altogether the greatest man in religious history, from 
Paul to Calvin, was Aurelius Augustine, commonly called 
St. Augustine, who flourished during the latter part of 
the fourth and the earlier part of the fifth centuries. 
"Paul begat Augustine, and Augustine begat Calvin," 
said a Celebrated infidel writer, and it is true. Augus- 
tine elaborated the great doctrines of salvation by free 
grace, set forth by all writers of the inspired word, 
notably by the apostle to the Gentiles, and advocated 
powerfully that theology which was afterwards syste- 
matically stated by John Calvin, who was practically 



58 THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY 

his pupil, though separated from him by a thousand 
years. This theology has been variously termed 
Pauline, Augustine, Calvinistic, or Presbyterian. Au- 
gustine was born and lived in northern Africa. In his 
youth he was sensual and wicked, but became converted 
under the instrumentality of the teaching, example and 
prayers of his mother, Monica, whose almost romantic 
devotion to her son has gone into history as the symbol 
of maternal affection. Amply was her love rewarded, 
for his name stands among the highest in the world's 
catalogue of theologians. His opponent was a Scotch 
or Irish monk, Pelagius, the author of a system of doc- 
trine called Pelagianism, which has come down to our 
own times, denying the vicarious headship of Adam 
and original sin, and giving undue value to works, in 
the scheme of salvation. Augustine's life work may be 
said to have been mainly drawn out by his controversy 
with Pelagius ; and in it he laid down the principles 
which, ten centuries afterward, produced that great re- 
ligious revolution called the Reformation, of which he 
may well be called the ancestor. And that Reforma- 
tion is the most remarkable occurrence in all the annals 
of Christianity since the time of its great author. 

But Pelagianism, so ably refuted by Augustine, had 
too strong an ally in the depraved nature of man to be 
easily overthrown, and it spread like wildfire over a 
great part of the church, sowing the seeds of much of 
the corruption which followed. As the simplicity of 
Presbyterian government disappeared before the rise 
of the hierarchy, the great twin principle of doctrine, 
salvation by grace, passed away with it. It was always 
held in some portions of the church, and was never, in 



OF PRESBYTEKIANISM. 59 

those days, denounced, but the opposite doctrine, salva- 
tion by works, was quietly put into its place. Pela- 
gianism easily led to penance, works of supererogation, 
and will-worship. A later writer said, " It is necessary 
to change our dress and food; we must put on sack- 
cloth and ashes; we must renounce all comfort and 
adorning of the body, and fall down before the priests." 
The same tendency came at length to voluntary flagella- 
tions, and nobles and peasants walked together through 
city and country by thousands, with no other covering 
than a cloth about their loins, in the cold of winter and 
the heat of summer, lashing themselves with whips and 
scourges, for the salvation of their souls. Pilgrimages 
to Eome from all parts of the world became the fashion, 
and as many as 200,000 pilgrims visited the city in one 
month. / All who came were expected to bring costly 
presents to the Pontiff, and the treasuries of the church 
thus began the absorption of the wealth of nations, 
which became such a prodigious evil in subsequent 
times. Those who came bringing gifts were rewarded, 
for their devotion by plenary indulgence ; so that all 
who wished to commit some great sin, or whose con- 
sciences lashed them under a sense of guilt, had the 
strongest possible reason for making a contribution to 
the church. Thus popery, with its despotic assumption 
of authority over the soul, and its substitution of human 
for divine works, went on developing its inherent wick- 
edness. 

But even then the greed of the papal power was not 
satisfied, and provision was made for the sale of indul- 
gences in nearly all the cities and villages of Christen- 
dom, and it was this very wickedness, this hideous 



60 the people's history 

traffic in immortal souls which, in the sixteenth century, 
occasioned that mighty convulsion which destroyed 
popery in half of Europe. Such a system of carnality 
could but lead to the deepest moral corruption. The 
clergy led the people in the grossest sins. Every kind 
of debauchery was practiced by the religious teachers 
of the people ; virtue was by no means common amoug 
them, and a German bishop declared that in one year 
eleven thousand priests presented themselves to him, to 
pay the tax assessed by the church upon their illegiti- 
mate offspring. It would be indecent to describe the 
drunkenness, the gambling, the seductions, the mur- 
ders, and other infamies which disgraced the priests of 
the period immediately preceding the Reformation. We 
say no more, but drop the veil upon the horrid scenes ; 
so much for the fruits of Pelagianism. Enough of this 
dreadful darkness. 

Let us look for rays of light. In former chapters we 
have seen how the Waldenses and Culdees still con- 
, tended for the faith once delivered to the saints. There 
are others to be mentioned ; they are the heroes of 
Bohemia and Moravia. It was in the ninth century 
that Christianity was introduced into that country, and 
not from Rome, but from the east. The clergy were 
allowed to marry; the cup as well as the bread was 
given to the laity in the sacrament of the Holy Supper, 
and public worship was held in the language of the 
people. The Church of Rome long strove to bring 
Bohemia under its sway, and though it did succeed in 
the fourteenth century, the people were never wholly 
subdued. The history of the Church of Bohemia is 
one of the most heroic, as well as the most melancholy, 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 61 

chapters in the story of human existence. Persecuted 
and crushed, it was only for one hundred years they 
gave outward submission to the popes, and in the 
fifteenth century the unconquered spirit of liberty and 
love of truth again asserted itself. Nor has that martyr 
church ever been wholly destroyed. It has survived 
through incredible trials to the end of the nineteenth 
century, with brighter prospects for growth and useful- 
ness. It is now one of the factors in the great Alliance 
of Presbyterian or Keformed Churches throughout the 
world. 

The Keformed Church of Bohemia has associated 
with it the luminous name of John Huss. Wickliffe, of 
England, has been called the "Morning Star of the Be- 
formation," and Huss, "its John the Baptist." There 
is reason to suppose that the Bohemian was much in- 
fluenced by the writings of Wickliffe. Huss was rector 
of the University of Prague, at that time one of the 
most influential seats of learning in Europe. He was 
an able and fearless preacher, an accomplished scholar 
and devoted lover of his country. His struggles in com- 
ing to the truth remind us of those of Augustine ; but he 
was fully possessed of it, and it became the supreme 
rule of his conduct. Even the Jesuit writer, Balbinus, 
is constrained to say of "this pale, thin man, in mean 
attire," that "his pure morality, his earnest life, his care- 
lined countenance, his sympathetic kindness, breathed 
with more wondrous power than all the eloquence that 
fell from his lips." He preached against the corruptions 
of the clergy and laity, and boldly asserted that Christ, 
and not the pope, was the head of the church. Such 
preaching as this was all a man's life was worth in those 



62 the people's history 

halcyon days of popery. John Huss was condemned 
for heresy by the famous Council of Constance in 1415, 
and required to recant or die. He chose the latter 
alternative, and when the council formally committed 
him to the devil, he, standing reverently with uplifted 
hands, commended himself to the mercy of Christ. 
After he had been tied to the stake, and the fagots piled 
about him, he was given a final opportunity to save his 
life by the surrender of his faith. His answer was: 
" God is my witness that I have never taught or preached 
that which false witnesses have testified against me. 
He knows that the great object of my preaching and 
writing was to convert men from sin. In the truth of 
that gospel which hitherto I have written, taught, and 
preached, I now joyfully die." The fires were then 
lighted around him, and his voice, repeating the prayer 
" Kyrie Eleison," was soon stifled in the smoke. When 
naught was left of him but ashes, these were carefully 
removed, together with the ground on which they lay, 
and cast into the Rhine. But his testimony could not 
be destroyed; God's truth is eternal, and from those 
northern countries whither the Rhine carried the ashes 
of John Huss, were to come, after a century, the events 
which would shake the foundations of the hierarchy of 
Rome from centre to circumference, and send it reeling 
downward to its final ruin. 

When the news of the shameful treatment of Huss 
reached Prague, where he was preacher to the queen 
and rector of the university, the intensest indignation 
was aroused. The denial to the people, by the council, 
of the cup in the sacrament was bitterly condemned, and 
the cup became the symbol of their faith. To this day 



OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 63 

it is seen on their tombstones, engraved on their pulpits, 
and emblazoned on the insignia of their church. But 
a great part of the nation adopted the faith of Huss, 
and all that was left to the anti-christ of Rome was to 
destroy them with fire and sword, and in the year 1420 
four thousand of God's saints were put to death. 

But brighter days were coming. The passing trav- 
eller, in the old cathedral of St. Peter, Calvin's church, 
in Geneva, now reads the name of the bishop who pre- 
sided at that memorable council of Constance, Jean de 
Brognier, on a black marble slab in the floor, where be- 
low rest his bones, and over which have trod the feet of 
multitudes who have thronged that stately edifice to hear 
the gospel of John Huss and the Reformation preached 
all these three hundred years. 



CHAPTEK Vin. 

The Ascending Day of the Eeformation. 

" TNDULGENTIA Plenaria Quotidiana Perpetua 
JL Pro Vivis et Defunctis." Perpetual indulgences, 
daily for the living and the dead. This inscription, in 
Latin, may be seen to-day inscribed over the doors of 
many of the principal churches in the city of Eome. 
Stand at the entrance of the hoary Pantheon, a temple 
built for heathen worship before the birth of Christ, 
which has witnessed two idolatries, promising now to 
outlive the second, as it did the first, and read, in 
bold characters, these suggestive words, for thereby 
hangs a tale — that of the great Eeformation of the six- 
teenth century. The sale of indulgences, and the un- 
blushing wickedness it entailed, liberated the mighty 
forces .which had been preparing in the providence of 
God to convulse Christendom. It was the ignition of 
the mine, the explosion of which still reverberates to 
the ends of the earth. 

This dates from the erection of St. Peter's Cathedral 
in Eome. It is a striking fact that the building of this 
most magnificent of all churches occasioned the Eefor- 
mation. It was to raise the stupendous sum of money 
necessary to build St. Peter's that venders of indul- 
gences were sent, licensed by the Pope, throughout 
Europe. Millions were poured from this source into 
the holy treasury at Eome ; but the change was at hand. 
God had prepared a crisis, and now prepared a man. 
Martin Luther, the sledge-hammer of the Eeformation, 
64 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 65 

an Augustinian monk, whose birthplace was Eisleben, 
Germany, was the man. This nnique personality was 
to become the leading figure of his time. A devout 
and an independent thinker, Luther searched the Scrip- 
tures. "The just shall live by faith" (Romans i. 17), 
became the text of his life, and his work, the elaboration 
of that truth. Beholding the corruptions of the times, 
he deplored them, but ardently loved the church in 
which they were tolerated, hoping to see it purified, 
and it was only with the greatest reluctance that he 
separated himself from Rome, when he gave up all hope 
of its recovery from vice. He was sent as an envoy 
from his order, the Augustinians, to the Papal See, and 
when, after a long journey, he approached the historic 
city, the queen of the world and the mistress of the 
church, and looked upon its glittering palaces and 
domes, he prostrated himself upon the ground, exclaim- 
ing, "Holy Eome, I salute thee!" But what a disap- 
pointment was in store for this good man when he found 
that the city and church of his love were wallowing in 
sin and lust! His mind soon changed, and he wrote, 
"If there be a hell, Eome is built over it;" for the 
eternal city showed itself more like an infernal city than 
the holy city of his dreams. One day the hollowness 
and sham of the whole Pelagian system of salvation by 
works came over the mind of the Augustinian monk 
with irresistible power. It was while he was climbing 
on his knees, according to custom, the holy stairs over 
which our Lord is declared, by an unscrupulous priest- 
hood, to have passed as he descended from Pilate's 
judgment hall. There could be no fitter place for the 
spell to be broken than on this stairway. Here the 



66 the people's histoey 

light from heaven burst clearly upon Luther's soul, and 
it was in the words, " The just shall live by faith ! " He 
arose, retraced his steps sadly to Germany, prepared 
for the work God had for him to do. 

Luther returned to Germany searching the Scriptures, 
ever getting more light and imparting it to his students 
in the University of Wittenberg, of which he was a pro- 
fessor, and to the people of his pastoral charge. Tet- 
zel, the vendor of indulgences, now apjoears on the scene. 
Luther exposed the traffic without mercy. To show the 
folly of this wretched business, it is said that a hardy 
German bought from Tetzel an indulgence allowing him 
to chastise a man against whom he had a grudge. He 
proceeded, on a convenient occasion, to exercise his 
purchased privilege upon the object of his dislike, by 
giving him a sound beating in the public highway ; and 
Tetzel himself was the man! When the aggrieved in- 
dulgence seller appealed to the civil magistrate he re- 
fused to interfere, and go behind the writ signed by 
Tetzel's own hand. This sale -of indulgences occa- 
sioned the preparation by Luther of the celebrated 
ninety-five theses, or doctrinal statements, denouncing 
the iniquity, which he nailed on the door of the Castle 
Church in Wittenberg in the year 1517, the date usually 
considered as marking the beginning of the Reforma- 
tion. The following are extracts from this famous docu- 
ment: 
*? Disputation to Explain the Virtue of Indulgences. " 

" In charity and in the endeavor to bring the truth to 
light, a disputation on the following propositions will 
be held at Wittenberg, presided over by the Reverend 
Father Martin Luther. 



OF PEESBYTEEIANISM. 67 

"The old man is the vanity of vanities; he is the 
universal vanity, and he makes other creatures vain, 
whatever goodness may be in them. 

" The old man is called ' the flesh,' not merely because 
he is led by the desires of the flesh, but also, because, 
though he should even be chaste, virtuous and just, he 
is not born again of God, by the Spirit. 

"A man who is a stranger to God cannot keep the 
commandments of God, nor prepare himself, wholly 
or in part, to receive grace, but remains necessarily un- 
der sin. 

"The will of man, without divine grace, is not free, 
but enslaved, and willing to be so. 

"Jesus Christ, our strength, our righteousness, He 
who searches the hearts and reins, is the only discerner 
and judge of our deserts. 

" Since all things are possible through Christ to him 
that believeth, it is superstitious to seek for other help, 
either in man's will or in the saints. 

" Those who are unable to attend personally, may dis- 
cuss the question with us by letter. In the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ . Amen." 

The promulgation of these "theses" set all Europe 
to thinking, and brought the church with its abuses 
before the bar of the learning of the schools, the com- 
mon sense of the people, and the Scriptures, which 
Luther, from the Wartburg Castle, where a friend had 
confined him to save his life, was going to give Ger- 
many in the German language. Events now crowded 
upon each other. The old controversy of the fifth cen- 
tury between Pelagius and Augustine, as to salvation 
by works or by faith, had burst into a new flame, and 



68 the people's histoey of peesbyteeianism. 

was penetrating all the nations, but this time with a 
different result. God had defended the glimmering 
spark of truth, and now was about to make it a light for 
the world. 

We cannot pursue the tempting theme of the progress 
of the Reformation in Germany, describing the heroism 
and faith of the men who gathered about Luther and his 
coadjutor, Melancthon. These things belong to the his- 
tory of Lutheranism, and cannot fairly be included 
under the title of this book, which is a history of Pres- 
byterianisni. For though nearly akin, or identical in 
essentials, the Lutherans differ from the "Presbyte- 
rian," or "Reformed Church," in many important points 
of theology, church government and the sacraments. 
Let us turn to Switzerland, the land of azure lakes and 
snow-mantled mountains, the home of liberty, and the 
mother of modern Presbyterianism. 




Z WING LI. 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Reformation in Eastern Switzerland. — Zwingli. 

THE Reformation did not originate in Germany, nor 
was it carried thence to the other nations, though 
the reformers of that country deserve unbounded praise 
for their services rendered to the cause of truth. It is 
impossible to decide where it began ; it can hardly be 
said to have begun anywhere. It appeared simultan- 
eously over a large part of western Europe, like the 
coming of spring. While Luther and his colleagues 
were operating in Germany, Ulrich Zwingli was doing a 
great work in Switzerland. 

This magnificent man was born in 1484, at Wildhaus, 
a small village of the Alps. His parents were honest, 
well-to-do people, who brought him up carefully. His 
course of primary education was taken at Basle and 
Bern, after which he pursued his studies at the Uni- 
versity of Vienna. Returning to Basle, he taught school 
and studied theology, and when his preparation was 
complete, he was ordained priest, and labored at Glarus. 
For ten years he worked earnestly there among his 
parishioners, in his studies using for text books, among 
others, Plutarch, Plato, the Bible, and the writings 
of Augustine, WicklifTe, and Huss. He soon became 
noted for his learning and zeal, all of which, together 
with his engaging manners, made him very popular. 
His reputation even extended to Rome, and the pope 
6 9 



70 the people's histoey 

gave him a yearly pension for the continuation of his 
studies. His outspoken opposition to the then preva- 
lent custom in Switzerland of men enlisting as mercen- 
aries in the armies of the surrounding nations, embit- 
tered many who were favorable to that policy, and they 
made it so unpleasant for him that he was glad to re- 
move, in 1516, to Einsiedeln, where he accepted the of- 
fice of preacher. This town was a place to which thou- 
sands of pilgrims resorted, not only from Switzerland, 
but from the whole of southern Germany. " Hie est 
plena remissio omnium peccatorum" full forgiveness of 
all sins can he had here, was written over its gates. This 
the honest soul of Zwingli could not tolerate, and he 
began preaching to the pilgrims salvation by faith in 
Christ alone. He appealed to the cardinal, the papal 
legate, and the bishop, to suppress the sale of indul- 
gences. He drove the indulgence-seller out of the can- 
ton by his bold denunciations. To keep down the ris- 
ing storm the wily officials of Rome had him made a 
titular chaplain to the pope. But they mistook Zwingli. 
He was not a man to be bought. The same year he 
accepted a call, as preacher, to the cathedral at Zurich, 
where he proceeded boldly to proclaim the truth. His 
audiences were immense. Peasants, scholars, and per- 
sons of rank thronged the church from the city and 
country. He had now become too powerful and too 
bold to be tolerated, and it was determined by the hier- 
archy to put him down. But the people were with him, 
and they were obliged to proceed cautiously. It was 
finally determined to hold a public disputation in the 
city hall of Zurich, between the preacher and his accu- 
sers, that he might be overthrown in the presence of 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 71 

the people. This was on January 29, 1523. The mul- 
titude gathered for the debate, and the vicar-general, 
Faber, appeared, representing the Bishop of Constance, 
to crush the heretic. Zwingli had prepared sixty-five 
theses, in which he maintained that " Christ is the only 
means of reconciliation with God ; the only way of sal- 
vation; while the whole apparatus gotten up by the 
Church of Rome — priesthood, confession, absolution, 
indulgences, etc. — is a vain thing; and that the Scrip- 
tures are the only authoritative guide in religion." 
These propositions he defended with eloquence and mer- 
ciless logic. But one original feature of his statement, 
and that in which it differed materially from the Luth- 
eran theologians, was, in his laying down the great Pres- 
byterian principle of government, which was as funda- 
mentally opposed to the ecclesiastical polity of the 
Boman Church as the theology of the reformers was 
to its doctrinal errors. It was, that the power of gov- 
ernment resides in the people, and that they have the 
right to elect their own rulers — a proposition which, 
once admitted, overthrows the whole hierarchy, from 
the pope to the humblest parish priest appointed by 
his bishop. So powerfully did Zwingli defend these 
principles, that the vicar-general, Faber, dared not even 
to answer him ; but the discussion resulted in a com- 
plete victory for the reformer, and his doctrines were 
forthwith formally adopted for Zurich. At this point 
the pope wrote him an artful letter, intimating that 
everything except the papal chair was open to him. It 
failed, and the next step of the undaunted preacher of 
Zurich was to close all the female convents, sending 
the nuns back to their homes, and all this bv the town 



72 the people's history 

authorities, without consulting any bishop. In the 
same year the chapter of the cathedral was closed, and 
converted into an educational establishment for theo- 
logical students. His heresy culminated the next 
spring, 1524, by his being publicly married in the ca- 
thedral to Anne Eeinhard, which example was soon fol- 
lowed by many of his brethren of the priesthood. 

In the autumn of the same year he published two 
pamphlets, in which he developed those views of the 
Holy Supper, since called Zwinglian, which furnished 
the main ground of separation between the Lutherans 
and the Reformed, or Presbyterians, ever afterwards. 
It was simply that the word "is" in the sacred for- 
mula — "this is my body" — means represents, and that 
the human body of Christ is in no sense present in the 
sacrament. The opposite of this was and is the Lu- 
theran view, that the text is to be understood literally, 
and that the flesh and blood of our Lord are really 
present, though invisible. For this Martin Luther con- 
tended with vehemence, by pen and speech, in his pul- 
pit and at conferences held with the Swiss Reformers, 
writing down on his table with chalk, " Hoc est corpus 
meum" and declaring that he would hold fellowship 
with none who refused to accept it. This difference of 
opinion split the Reformation in twain, and excited 
feelings of the greatest bitterness between those holding 
opposing opinions, especially on the part of the Lu- 
therans towards the Reformed. 

It was another matter, however, in the pamphlets of 
Zwingli which attracted the greatest attention in Zurich 
just at that time. It was a strong denial of the admissi- 
bility of images in the worship of God. To quiet down 



OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 73 

the popular mind, another disputation was had between 
the opposing parties, at which about nine hundred 
were present, which resulted in the declaration being 
adopted, that the worship of God by images is forbid- 
den in Scripture, and that the mass is not a sacrifice, 
but a simple memorial ordinance. How far Zurich 
had drifted from Komanism is well attested by this 
scene: a company of believers pronouncing upon a 
question of doctrine and worship, and forming their 
judgment solely by the Word of God. • Shortly after- 
wards the images all disappeared from the churches, 
accompanied by the relics of the saints, and at Easter, 
1525, the Lord's Supper was celebrated after the [Re- 
formed manner, with a table instead of an altar, and 
the laity partaking of both the bread and wine. An 
attempt was now made to destroy the Reformation in 
Zurich, by securing a demand from the Catholic cantons 
of the Swiss Union, that the Zurichers return to the 
ancient faith, or be expelled from the confederation. 
The response was that they would brook no interference 
in spiritual matters. The religious revolution now 
made rapid progress in Switzerland. A conference was 
held at Bern, in 1528, at which Zwingli was present, 
which resulted in the addition of that city to the Refor- 
mation, which example was soon afterwards followed by 
Basle, St. Gall and Schaffhausen. Thus, without the 
shedding of a drop of blood, the great cause made gigan- 
tic strides in Switzerland. But it could not, in the nature 
of things, continue thus. A combination of Roman Cath- 
olic cantons was formed against Zurich. By a mistaken 
policy of retaliatory prohibition against them on the 
part of the Protestants, in spite of the protest of 



74 the people's history 

Zwingli, a conflict was precipitated, which culminated 
in a desperate battle at Cappel, resulting in the utter 
defeat of the Zurichers. Among the dead that lay on 
the battle-field was Ulrich Zwingli, who was present in 
his capacity as chaplain. He was bending over a dying 
man to comfort him, when he was pierced with a spear. 
His last words were, "they can kill the body, but not 
the soul." The next day a public executioner quartered 
his poor body ; it was then ignominiously burned, and 
his ashes scattered to the winds by the fanatics who 
had destroyed his noble life. 

Over the spot where he fell the admiring peasantry 
have kept a pear tree growing from age to age, up to the 
present, as a poor tribute to his memory ; and this liv- 
ing symbol is quite as fitting as the metal plate bearing 
an elaborate inscription on a stone hard by. Zwingli's 
life thus sadly closed in 1531, at the age of forty-seven, 
but his fame lives, and wherever the Reformation is 
preached, or the praises of true nobility are sung, will 
his name rank high in the catalogue of the world's 
heroes. 

"Goodness and greatness are not means, but ends. 
Hath he not always treasures, always friends, 
The good great man ? Three treasures, — love, and light, 
And calm thoughts, equable as infant's breath ; 
And three fast friends more sure than day or night — 
Himself, his Maker, and the angel death ?" 

— Coleridge. 

After a few warlike demonstrations, a peace was con- 
cluded, in which it was agreed that the Reformation 
should be guaranteed in Zurich and its immediate de- 
pendencies, as well as in all other places where it had 
been already received ; that all should have full liberty 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 75 

of conscience, but that no further organized effort should 
be made to extend the new doctrines in the Koman 
Catholic cantons. Thus was the progress of the Ee- 
formation arrested suddenly in the eastern or German 
portions of Switzerland, and one-third of it remains in 
the power of the Church of Rome to this day. But 
great things were about to be done in the western or 
French cantons, where a mighty leader was rising, 
another disciple of Paul and Augustine, one who was 
to accomplish more for his race than was ever assigned 
to the agency of any other uninspired teacher — that 
man was John Calvin. 



CHAPTER X. 

The Spiritual Eepublic Established. 
John Calvin and Geneva. 

THE circulation in Geneva of a French translation of 
the Scriptures by LeEevre d'Etaples, of France, was 
the preparation for the Reformation in that city. " The 
entrance of thy words giveth light," is a truth of uni- 
versal application, and, as had been the case in Bohe- 
mia a hundred years earlier, and in Germany just be- 
fore the time of which we are writing, so now in Geneva 
the Reformation came out of the study of the Bible. 
The Roman Catholic authorities were alive to the dan- 
ger of allowing the people to read it for themselves, and 
so, as far back as 1528, we find the bishop, the Duke 
of Savoy, and the Pope busily engaged fining, scourg- 
ing, and beheading those who possessed or read "le 
livre mauclit" the cursed book. 

When Earel, a Frenchman of piety, courage, and elo- 
quence, who had been driven, first from his own coun- 
try, and afterwards from Basle, because of his advanced 
ideas in religion, came to Geneva, he found the soil 
ready for his work. It was just after a visit to the "Wal- 
denses that he entered Geneva, in 1532, and established 
the Reformation there. In one year he had so far 
succeeded in his labors as to have the Reformed religion 
formally recognized in the city, and liberty to preach it 
openly There was afterwards a short reaction, but in 
76 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF PRESBYTEIUANISM. 77 

1535 it was adopted as the religion of the state. It 
was during the year following that Calvin appeared in 
Geneva, and soon became the leading figure in its civil 
and religious affairs. 

This wonderful man, whose name has been given to 
the Pauline or Augustinian theology, which has played 
such an important part in the great struggles for civil 
and religious liberty of modern times, was born in 
France, at Noyon, July 10, 1509. His father, Gerard 
Calvin, was a good man, and secretary to the bishop of 
his native city. As is often the case with remarkable 
men, John Calvin had a remarkable mother. Like 
Monica, the mother of Augustine, Jeanne Lefranc Cal- 
vin was a woman of great piety, as well as discretion, 
and was also noted for her personal beauty. He was 
early destined for the priesthood, and, that he might 
have the means to secure an education, his parents be- 
ing poor, at the age of twelve he was given a chaplaincy. 
This position, and several others like it which he held, 
enabled him to secure a fine training in provincial 
schools, and in Paris, for the work before him. He be- 
came distinguished in all his classes; but at length, be- 
fore he had been consecrated a priest, he abandoned 
his original intention, and, on the advice of his father, 
addressed himself to the study of law. In this depart- 
ment his success was brilliant, and he often took the 
places of his professors in their absence, while he was 
a student, to lecture before the classes. After the death 
of his father, he returned to the study of theology, his 
time spent in the law having been by no means wasted, 
as his future history showed. His main study now be- 
came the Bible, and he began preaching the evangelical 



78 the people's history 

doctrines in Paris. This led to his expulsion, and for 
two years he wandered a fugitive, but everywhere sow- 
ing the seed of the word. Near Poitiers, in company 
with a few friends, he first celebrated the Lord's Sup- 
per, in a cave, which is called "Calvin's Cave" to this 
day. In 1536, at the age of twenty-seven, he published, 
at Basle, in the Latin language, his immortal work, 
" The Institutes of Christian Theology." In the same 
year, on his way back to Basle from a visit to his native 
Noyon, where he had converted a brother and sister to 
the Keformed faith, he made what he intended to be a 
short stop of one day in Geneva, being obliged to go 
that way by reason of wars along the direct route. His 
design was to settle down quietly, in Basle or Strasburg, 
to a life of study. But Farel laid hands on him, be- 
seeching and commanding him to remain in Geneva, 
and take part in the great work going forward there. 
When he insisted upon continuing his journey, Farel 
" threatened him with the curse of God, if he preferred 
his studies to the work of the Lord." "These words," 
says Calvin, in the preface of his commentary on the 
Psalms, "terrified and shook me as if God from on high 
had stretched out his hand to stop me ; so that I re- 
nounced the journey I had undertaken." The scholar 
was now to become the preacher and the man of books, 
the leader of a mighty Reformation, extending to many 
lands. He and Farel labored to establish the Reforma 
tion in Geneva; but the severity of their morals and 
discipline gained for them the ill-will of the leading 
politicians, and in two years they were both formally 
expelled from the city. 

Calvin then went to Strasburg, to pursue his studies 



OF PEESBYTERIAtflSM. 79 

until God should again call him to active duty. While 
there he ministered to the French Church, and in 1540 
was married to Idelette de Bures. By her he had three 
children, all of whom died in infancy. Calvin's married 
life, except fur these bereavements, was a very happy 
one, but it only lasted nine years. She, whom he called 
"the excellent companion of his life," and "a precious 
help," died in 1549, to the great grief of her husband, 
who never ceased to mourn his loss. 

Matters did not flow smoothly in Geneva during the 
absence of Calvin. A vigorous effort was made to win 
the city baok to Borne, and, from a distance, Calvin re- 
plied to an address of Cardinal Sadolet in a published 
letter, and silenced the prelate. At length, however, 
he was urgently and repeatedly called to return to 
Geneva. In this invitation the magistrates joined, and 
in 1541, Calvin again made his home among the Gene- 
vese. He was given by the council of the city a house 
to live in, and in addition, a salary of five hundred 
florins, twelve measures of wheat, and two tubs of wine. 
He was received with the greatest enthusiasm, and set; 
about his work with a firm resolution to carry out his 
idea of a Bible church, in its doctrines, polity, and dis- 
cipline. He at once became the dominant mind of the 
city, and soon of the greater number of the Reformed 
churches throughout Europe. His intellectual energy 
was prodigious, and his labors immense. He preached 
every day in each alternate week, taught theology three 
days in the week, attended weekly meetings of his con- 
sistory (session), read the Scriptures once a week in the 
congregation, and carried on a heavy correspondence 
with Reformers in many countries, to help them in their 



80 the people's histoey 

struggles for the truth. At the same time he prepared 
a revision of the Waldensian French Bible, and wrote 
commentaries on the Scriptures. "I have not time," 
he writes to a friend, "to look out of my house at the 
blessed sun, and if things continue thus I shall forget 
what sort of appearance it has. When I have settled 
my usual business I have so many letters to write, so 
many questions to answer, that many a night is spent 
without any offering of sleep being brought to nature." 
Geneva soon became " the Protestant Rome ; " for, under 
the influence of Calvin's piety and genius, not only did 
the city become purified, reorganized, and thrilled with 
new life, but the influence was felt wherever the Refor- 
mation had been carried. Letters out inwent all di- 
rections, containing advice to the Reformed churches, 
and hundreds of men came to Geneva to sit under the 
teachings of this wonderful man. There was little at- 
tempt at the exercise of authority over other communi- 
ties; from "the Protestant Rome" the influence that 
went forth was that of the great truths of the Scriptures, 
elaborated by a giant intellect under the baptism of 
"the Holy Ghost and fire." Among others, Calvin had 
for a pupil John Knox, who had taken refuge from per- 
secution in Geneva, and who afterwards became the 
organizer of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. 

"The Lutheran Reformation," says Dyer in his His- 
tory of Modem Europe, "traveled but little out of Ger- 
many and the neighboring Scandinavian kingdoms; 
while Calvinism obtained a European character, and 
was accepted in all the countries that adopted a reforma- 
tion from without, as France, the Netherlands, Scot- 
land, even England ; for the early English Reformation 



OF PEESBYTEEIANISM 81 

under Edward VI. was Calvinistic, and Calvin was in- 
contestable the father of onr Puritans and dissenters. 
Thus, under his rule, Geneva may be said to have be- 
come the capital of European Reform." 

Francis de Sales, an intense Roman Catholic, urging 
upon the Duke of Savoy the importance of suppressing 
the Reformation in Geneva, said: "All the heretics re- 
spect Geneva as the asylum of their religion 

There is not a city in Europe which offers more facili- 
ties for the encouragement of heresy, for it is the gate 
of France, of Italy and Germany, so that one finds 
there people of all nations — Italians, French, Germans, 
Poles, Spaniards, English, and of countries still more 
remote. Besides, every one knows the great number of 
ministers bred there. Last year it furnished twenty to 
France. Even England obtains ministers from Geneva. 
"What shall I say of its magnificent printing establish- 
ments, by means of which the city floods the world with 
its wicked books, and even goes the length of distribut- 
ing them at the public expense? . . . All the enter- 
prises undertaken against the Holy See and the Cath- 
olic princes have their beginnings at Geneva. No city 
in Europe receives more apostates of all grades, secular 
and regular. From thence I conclude that Geneva be- 
ing destroyed would naturally lead to the dissipation of 
heresy." * 

Bancroft also writes : " More truly benevolent to the 
human race than Solon, more self-denying than Lycur- 
gus, the genius of Calvin infused enduring elements into 
the institutions of Geneva, and made it for the modern 
world the impregnable fortress of popular liberty." 

1 Vie de Ste. Francois de Sales, par son nevea, p. 120. 
7 



82 the people's history 

Eanke said, " Jolin Calvin was virtually the founder of 
America." 

Bufus Choate writes : " In the reign of Mary [of 
England] a thousand learned artisans fled from the 
stake at home to the happier states of continental Pro- 
testantism. Of these, great numbers — I know not how 
many — came to Geneva. ... I ascribe to that five 
years in Geneva an influence which has changed the 
history of the world. I seem to myself to trace to it, 
as an influence on the English character, a new theology, 
new politics, another tone of character, the opening of 
another era of time and liberty. I seem to myself to 
trace to it the great civil war in England, the republican 
constitution framed in the cabin of the Mayflower, the 
divinity [theology] of Jonathan Edwards, the battle of 
Bunker Hill, the independence of America." 

During Calvin's ascendency in Geneva, a heretic, 
named Servetus, a man who denied the divinity of our 
Lord, and held other errors, was burned by order of the 
council. A great deal more has been made of this mel- 
ancholy occurrence by the enemies of Calvin, to injure 
his reputation, than the facts of the case warrant. Un- 
der the prosecution by Calvin he was convicted of this 
heresy, and the great Reformer did not interfere to pre- 
vent his execution, though he earnestly entreated that 
his death might be by the sword, rather than by what 
he called " the atrocity " of burning at the stake. There 
is this also to be said in extenuation : Calvin was a man 
of his time, had been brought up to regard the punish- 
ment of fundamental heresy by death as right and 
proper, and this particular case was approved by nearly 
the unanimous consent of the Protestants of that day. 



OF PKESBYTERIANISM. 83 

Even such a gentle spirit as Melancthon affirmed the 
justice of the sentence ; and a prominent English divine 
wrote, in the next century, that the process against Ser- 
vetus was "just and honorable." In the words of an 
eminent British authority, by no means partial to the 
Reformer, "the general voice of Christendom, Roman 
Catholic and Protestant, was in favor of it, " and Cole- 
ridge declared that "the death of Servetus was not 
Calvin's guilt especially, but the common opprobrium 
of all European Christendom." It is, perhaps, hardly 
necessary to add that while this one sad case does throw 
a shadow on the Reformation of that day, there were 
thousands and tens of thousands who died for their 
opinions at the hands of Rome. 

Though Switzerland was a republic, and therefore a 
favorable field for Presbyterianism, Calvin could not 
work his principles of doctrine and government into the 
institutions of the people of Geneva without a long and 
bitter struggle. The great theological system called 
Pauline, or Augustinian, was heareafter to be named 
Calvinism. Calvin established it as the theology of the 
Reformed and Presbyterian churches throughout the 
world. No such logical and powerful statement of doc- 
trine had been made since the days of the apostles, and 
the promulgation of it resounded throughout Christen- 
dom. Its two capital points were Divine Sovereignty 
and Human Depravity. These are the poles of the 
Calvinistic theology, and the line that connects them is 
the axis around which the whole system revolves. 

Calvinism has been called hard, and it was hard, but 
it was true. Not everything in philosophy or theology 
can be sweetness and light. There must be granite in 



84 THE people's histoky 

the world as well as flowers ; so there is need for solid 
substance in the beliefs which make the framework 
of human character, as well as for the gentle graces of 
sympathy and love. It is such doctrines as compose 
Calvinism that make reformers. It shows man the 
majesty of a Sovereign God, ruling all things, and in the 
presence of this sublime vision he loses the fear of mor- 
tals. Confronted with the infinite and the eternal he 
calmly ignores councils, kings, and popes. To this the 
world owes most of its martyrs. 

But Calvin did not make Calvinism, he only stated 
it. Calvinism is eternal truth itself. Its doctrines are 
the laws of nature, the laws of mind, the universal order, 
ordained by the Infinite, which man cannot change, 
which operate in heaven and earth, by the unfolding of 
an eternal decree, not blind, but animated with the in- 
telligence of the living God. 

What was the effect of this theology upon those who 
accepted it? "There is no system," said Henry Ward 
Beecher, a judge by no means prejudiced in its favor, 
"which equals Calvinism in intensifying, to the last de- 
gree, ideas of moral excellence and purity of character. 
There never was a system, since the world stood, which 
put upon man such motives to holiness, or which builds 
batteries which sweep the whole ground of sin with such 
horrible artillery." " They tell us," he continues, " that 
Calvinism plies men with hammer and chisel. It does ; 
and the result is monumental marble. Other systems 
leave men soft and dirty; Calvinism makes them of 
white marble, to endure forever." 

Calvin also worked out, more fully than had ever been 
done before, the principles of Presbyterian church gov- 



OF PKESBYTERIANISM. 85 

ernment, constructing a splendid ecclesiastical republic, 
which became a model for the world. Its influence 
was felt in Holland, France, and Great Britain, and 
has since become a potent factor in the development of 
the civil and religious republics of the western hemis- 
phere. Perhaps no community was ever more thor- 
oughly permeated by the soul of one man ; and even 
now, after three hundred years, the simplicity and se- 
verity of the morals and manners of its inhabitants show 
Geneva to be still the city of John Calvin. 

His courage, perseverance, and genius were triumph- 
antly successful, and he had the satisfaction before he 
died of seeing his system of doctrine and polity firmly 
established, not only at Geneva, but in other parts of 
Switzerland, as well as in France and Scotland. His 
influence in his adopted city extended to every depart- 
ment. All questions of law, police, commerce, and 
manufacturing, were referred to the great theologian. 
He established several enterprises which brought wealth 
to the city; and the university founded by him has 
flourished down to the present time, an ornament to 
Geneva and a means of good to many nations. 

The labors which Calvin performed could not fail to 
tell upon his body. Through sickness, weakness, and 
pain he fought his way for twenty-eight years ; nor was 
it until undermined by several acute diseases, his mortal 
tenement crumbling to pieces, that the heroic soul de- 
serted the ruin and took its everlasting flight. After he 
became too feeble to preach, he was often carried to 
the church which is still associated with his name, the 
church in which he had so long and powerfully pro- 
claimed the glorious gospel. He refused to receive a 



86 the people's histoey of presbyterianism. 

salary after lie became unable to perform his public 
duties, though he continued to labor in private. When 
urged to give his body rest, he exclaimed, "Would you 
that the Lord should find me idle when he comes?" 
A short time before his decease he gathered the coun- 
cillors of Geneva around his bed and delivered to them 
-a parting charge. 

On the evening of the 27th of May, 1564, in the fifty- 
fifth year of his age, he quietly passed away, leaning 
upon the bosom of a faithful friend, Theodore Beza, who 
had long been his companion in labors. This friend 
afterwards wrote : "I have been a witness of him for six- 
teen years, and I think I am fully entitled to say, that in 
this man there was exhibited to all an example of the 
life and death of the christian, such as it will not be easy 
to depreciate, and such as it will be difficult to emulate." 

The thoughtful visitor pauses now, in a little ceme- 
tery at the outskirts of Geneva, beside the only monu- 
ment erected to his memory in the city where he lived, 
a, piece of marble over his grave, with nothing inscribed 
upon it but two letters, "I. C," and reflects that he 
needed no shaft of bronze or granite to make the world 
remember its greatest uninspired theologian. 

In the grand old cathedral of St. Peter, the church 
of John Calvin in Geneva, may now be seen, on a marble 
tablet near the door, an inscription in French, of which 
the following is a translation : 

"In August, 1885, the Genevese Protestants cele- 
brated the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the 
Reformation, wishing thus to affirm publicly their devo- 
tion to the reformed religion, and their profound grati- 
tude to their valiant ancestors. May God protect 
always the church of Geneva!" 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Mighty Conflict in France. 

PRESBYTERLANISM, or christian republicanism, 
made a comparatively easy conquest in republican 
Switzerland. People accustomed to think for them- 
selves and to self-government would be most ready to 
embrace in religion principles similar to those by which 
they regulated their civil affairs. They "would also be 
more independent and courageous in accepting new 
views; nor would they be trammelled by despotic 
rulers in following the dictates of their consciences, 
under the illuminating power of God's word. There- 
iore, one need not be surprised to find the Reforma- 
tion fully established in Geneva, while in France it was 
still struggling for existence, though it w T as from France 
principally the influences first came which started the 
moral revolution in the city by the Lake of Leman. 
In France the Reformation had not only to contend 
^with the Roman Catholic hierarchy, but a system of 
despotism in the civil government of the country. It 
b>egan in blood and persecution, and this has been its 
liistory, in the main, down to comparatively recent 
times. It has never been suppressed, and at one 
period it was the grandest Protestant church in Europe, 
and of magnificent proportions. The great work may 
be said to have formally begun at Meaux and Paris in 
1521, though there had been a considerable, but unor- 
ganized manifestation of renewed spiritual life among 
87 



88 the people's history 

the people before that date. In 1520, Margaret, sister 
of Francis I., was at heart Protestant. It was charac- 
teristic of the French Reformation that many persons 
of high rank and position espoused its interests. The 
publication of the New Testament by Le Fevre d'Etaples, 
in 1522, and afterwards of Calvin's "Institutes of Chris- 
tian Theology," contributed greatly to the progress of 
the movement. Olivetan's translation of the whole 
Bible supplied a great demand, and increased the de- 
mand it supplied. The study of the Scriptures is the 
main-spring of all true reformation. 

Christian psalmody was a potent factor among the 
French in those stirring times. The praising of God 
by the people in sacred song was almost unknown in 
the Roman Church. This, like everything else, was 
taken from them and performed by the priests or their 
assistants. It had been artistically executed, and, no 
doubt, feelings deeply religious, as well as aesthetic, 
were stirred by it; but it was yet to be shown what 
was in the power of psalmody to do with the people, 
when they were afforded the opportunity to join in 
holy hymns of praise to God. This was one feature of 
that mighty movement which was by the people and 
for the people. How the Reformation was helped on 
by the hymns of Luther and others in Germany, and 
now in France, by a popular poet, Clement Marot, 
turning the Psalms of David into verse and putting 
them into the mouths of the people, clothed in mel- 
odious music! It was attended with great success. 
Before, the only singing by the people had been in sin 
or superstition, but now this splendid art was redeemed 
and consecrated to the highest purposes. It came in- 



OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 89 

to use in families, in churches, and, even in the public 
highway or the field of battle, the songs of Zion were 
heard resounding. The same thing has since been 
strikingly observed in Scotland, and also in the great 
Wesleyan revival in England. One indication of the 
presence of spiritual life is the earnestness with which 
the people sing. 

This psalm-singing, scripture-reading Reformation 
made rapid progress, so rapid as to excite the alarm of 
the priesthood, and bring on persecution, the favorite 
instrument of the dominant church to subdue heresy. 
The gospel was being preached in fields, houses, ships, 
caves, vaults, and wherever their ministers could find a 
place to speak, or the people a place to listen. The 
congregations were large and increasing; the popish 
churches were being deserted, and something needed 
to be done to stop the tide which was setting away 
from Rome. 

In 1559, the first General Synod (Assembly) was held 
in Paris, just one year before the first General Assem- 
bly in Scotland was convened in Edinburgh. The 
first moderator was Francis Morel. The Protestants 
had already passed through fiery trials. Before the 
time of the church's formal organization in this General 
Synod, over one hundred had given up their lives for 
the truth ; and on one occasion the king himself took 
part in a public burning of Protestants in the streets 
of Paris. But the work of reformation was not stayed 
by opposition ; it rather contributed to its intensity, 
and a cardinal wrote the Pope that France was half 
" Huguenot," as the Protestants were called. In Paris 
alone they numbered forty thousand adherents. 



90 THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY 

It is a remarkable fact that there was no single name 
among the Reformers of France which stood above all 
the rest, like Calvin's in Geneva, Zwingli's in Zurich, 
Luther's in Germany, or Knox's in Scotland. There 
were many noble and eminent men, but there was no 
towering genius. A characteristic feature of the Refor- 
mation in this nation was the frequent appeal to arms 
on the part of its advocates. It is a serious question 
whether this was not a reason for the terrible calamities 
which came upon them, or whether their history be not 
an illustration of the truth that " all they which take the 
sword shall perish by the sword ;" but their provoca- 
tion was extreme. It was hard for the Protestants to 
refrain from passing from the defensive to the offensive 
with those who were hunting them to the death. The 
Prince of Conde" and Admiral Coligny, two laymen, 
were among the most prominent leaders of the Protes- 
tants. Both chivalrous and heroic men, they strove, 
by arms, to bring about the great reform. Of course 
they were unsuccessful. The kingdom of Christ has 
never been established by military power. Conde was 
miserably assassinated after a battle, and Coligny met a 
similar fate in the memorable massacre of St. Bartholo- 
mew, on the 24th of August, 1572. At one time, at a 
signal from the bell of St. Germain l'Auxerrais, seventy- 
five thousand Protestants, men, women and children, 
were butchered in cold blood in their homes and in the 
streets of Paris and other cities. The person most re- 
sponsible for this colossal infamy was an italian woman, 
Catherine de Medici, queen regent, and mother of the 
boy king, Charles IX. She deliberately decoyed the 
Protestants to Paris for this purpose, and turned loose 



OF PEESBYTEKIANISM. 91 

apon them her brutal minions. The Seine was crim- 
soned, and the streets of Paris flowed in blood. To 
commemorate the event, the Pope ordered medals to be 
struck, having on one side the Pope's head, with this 
inscription, " Gregorius XIII, Pont. Max., An. I"; 
on the other a destroying angel, holding a cross in one 
hand, while, with the other, he slew the Protestants 
with a sword. On this side were inscribed the words, 
" Ilugonotorum sir ages" (slaughter of the Huguenots), 
"1572." Special services of thanksgiving were also 
held in the churches of Pome. 

Jonathan Edwards, in his "History of Redemption," 
says, " It is reckoned that about this time, within thirty 
years, there were martyred in this kingdom (France), 
for the Protestant religion, 39 princes, 148 counts, 234 
barons, 147,518 gentlemen, and 760,000 of the common 
people." Need one look further for the cause of the 
great calamities which have come upon France, when 
thus she deprived herself of her best people, those who 
represented the faith, courage, and conscience of the 
nation? How sadly has she needed this conservative 
element in the terrible scenes through which she has 
passed since then ! 

This was the same year in which John Knox died in 
Edinburgh. As the great Scottish Reformer, who him- 
self had tasted persecution in France, drew near his 
end the news of the massacre was brought to him. He 
was greatly moved, and uttered the following remark- 
able words: "Sentence is pronounced in Scotland 
against that murderer, the king of France, and God's 
vengeance shall never depart from his house ; but his 
name shall remain an execration to posterity ; and none 



92 the people's history 

that shall come of his loins shall enjoy that kingdom in 
peace and quietness, unless repentance prevent God's 
judgment." John Knox was not an inspired prophet, 
but he knew that God reigned, and that wickedness 
could not long go unpunished. Nearly all of those 
engaged in the Parisian massacre fell at Rochelle in the 
course of two brief years afterwards. And the young 
king, Charles IX., the instrument of those who planned 
the horrid deed, died in three years, at the age of twenty- 
four, of a strange disease which may be said to have 
literally wrapt him in blood. 

The leaders of the Protestants now were the young 
Prince of Conde, son of him who was murdered, and 
King Henry of Navarre. The latter finally abjured the 
[Reformed faith, and was placed on the throne of France, 
as Henry IV., but he did his old friends many kind- 
nesses, the greatest of which was the promulgation in 
1598, of the famous edict of Nantes, so called from the 
city in which he signed it, by request of a General 
Synod held at Sedan. This edict of toleration guar- 
anteed the Protestants a certain restricted liberty, and 
security of life and property. At this time also a large 
sum was given from the royal treasury to the seven 
hundred and sixty-three Reformed congregations and 
their theological seminaries at Montauban and Saumur. 
However, the edict soon became a dead letter, by rea- 
son of Henry's lust for Mary de Medici, whom he wished 
to marry. In order to do this it was necessary to be di- 
vorced from his wife by the Pope, and to have permis- 
sion given to marry Mary. This was the Pope's oppor- 
tunity, and he granted both requests, on condition that 
Henry would restore the Jesuits, who had been expelled 



OP PRESBYTERIANISM. 93 

from the country, and that he would renew the persecu- 
tions of the Protestants. One of the prominent histori- 
cal landmarks of that period was the siege of La Rochelle, 
the Protestant stronghold, by Richelieu. It lasted a year, 
and the fall of the city was followed by renewed cruel- 
ties. At last, in 1685, the edict of Nantes was revoked 
by Louis XIV. This was the culminating blow to the 
Reformation in France, and one from which it has 
never recovered. It required all pastors to quit. the 
country in fifteen days, under pretence that the Re- 
formed religion had ceased to exist. All exercise of 
Protestant worship was forbidden, and no emigration 
other than that of the pastors was allowed, under pen- 
alty of punishment in the galleys for men, and confis- 
cation of property and imprisonment for women. In 
spite of these cruel measures an enormous emigration 
to foreign lands followed, and it was made up of the 
best people in the kingdom. Wherever they went on 
the continent of Europe or in Great Britain, they were 
welcomed as a most valuable addition to all trades and 
professions, so that the name of Huguenot soon became 
the synonym of intelligence, honesty and thrift. Amer- 
ica was also a great gainer, for thousands of these noble 
people eventually came to its shores, and they and their 
posterity have ranked among the highest, in war and 
peace, in all departments of human industry, in politi- 
cal preferment, and in the church of the United States. 
The name Huguenot, at first a term of derision, lias 
acquired, from the characters of those who bore it, a 
heroic lustre, second to none other in religious history. 
" Had it not been for the massacre of St. Bartholomew's 
day, and the revocation of the edict of Nantes," writes 
8 



94 the people's histoky of peesbyteeianism. 

a distinguished Frenchman now living in Paris, "there 
would probably have been in our country at the present 
day from seven to eight millions of Protestants." 

For the next eighty years the Eeformed Church of 
France led a weary life. Reduced to a small remnant,, 
its members were seldom permitted to meet for worship 
or for conference. Yet it never died out entirely; "a. 
bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall 
he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory." 

From 1763 there was a rapid increase of tolerance 
until 1787, when Louis XVI. published an edict restor- 
ing to Protestants all their natural rights as citizens, 
except to meet for public worship. During the reign 
of terror all public worship was suppressed. Napoleon 
I. restored order, but neither his nor any succeeding 
government gave the Eeformed Church of France the 
right to hold its General Synod until 1872, when the 
right was granted under the administration of M. 
Thiers. Deprived of its head, the church was not able 
to prevent the introduction of much rationalism among 
its members. In 1849 there was a secession of evan- 
gelicals, who organized an Evangelical Union. The old 
church is becoming stronger now, and the Evangelical 
party within it seem likely to be able eventually to 
control its action. There are many signs of new life 
among the Eeformed of France at this time, such as to 
leave us not without hope of the return of those days,, 
short-lived but glorious, when theirs was the most com- 
pletely developed Protestant church in Europe. 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Extension of Liberty and Truth to Holland. 

THE Reformation c^ame into Holland from Germany 
and France, especially from the latter, and early as- 
sumed the Calvinistic form of doctrine and government. 
Erasmus, the brilliant scholar of Rotterdam, contem- 
porary with Luther, may be said to have prepared the- 
way for the Reformation, though not distinctly a Re- 
former. He condemned the errors of Romanism, but 
his feeling was more esthetic than moral indignation. 
He loved peace rather than the truth, and though for 
a time friendly with the Reformers, he never left the 
apostate church. His services to the cause were in the 
way of promoting the great revival of humanistic learn- 
ing which preceded and accompanied the Reformation. 
Luther said, " I fear that Erasmus does not sufficiently 
exalt Christ and the divine grace." Mr. Fronde wrote 
of these two men, " In Luther, belief in God was the first 
principle in life ; in Erasmus, it was an inference which 
might be taken away, and yet leave the world a very 
tolerable and habitable place." His enemies declared, 
nevertheless, that he "laid the egg which Luther hatched 
out." 

The revival of intellectual activity was very marked 
in Holland, whose inhabitants have been termed, by an 
eminent historian, "the most quick-witted people in 
95 



96 the people's history. 

Europe." They were alive to the discussions which 
were going on in many quarters, and sympathized to 
the deepest degree in the struggle to throw off the yoke 
of religious oppression. Attachment to popery had 
never been strong in the Netherlands, and the liberty- 
loving Dutch were prepared to receive the Reformation 
with enthusiasm. But they were not allowed to change 
their religion in peace. The persecutions they endured 
make one of the darkest pictures in history, and with 
them will be associated forever, covered with obloquy 
and execration, the name of the Duke of Alva. He was 
sent, in 1567, by his master, Philip II., King of Spain, 
a bigoted Roman Catholic, to extirpate heresy in Hol- 
land, which country was at that time held in subjection 
to the Spanish crown. His army numbered ten thou- 
sand men, mostly mercenaries, and he was clothed with 
full powers for this nefarious mission. He established 
a tribunal that soon became known as the "Court of 
Blood," which was to try and condemn the offending 
Protestants. Many cities openly declared against the 
oppressive measures of Alva, and combined for their 
common defence. The States-General, assembled at 
Dordrecht, marshaled under the leadership of "William 
the Silent," Prince of Orange. This wonderful man, 
who became a strong Calvinist, occupied, for a long time, 
the most prominent place among the Protestants of his 
day. His first efforts were by no means successful in 
attempting to resist the bloody tyrant. A great portion 
of the country was pillaged, and multitudes were killed 
in battle, or massacred after defeat. The Spaniards 
plundered wherever they conquered, claiming that 
everything had been forfeited by rebellion. But the piti- 



OF PKESBYTEKIANISM. 97 

less severity of their oppressors only intensified the de- 
termination of the Netherlander, and stirred up, finally, 
a desperate resistance which the discipline of the Span- 
ish soldiery and the skill of their commander, the most 
consummate general in Europe, were unable to with- 
stand. The Duke of Alva, worn by ill-health and re- 
peated disasters, was at length recalled to Spain, whither 
he now returned, boasting, that besides the great num- 
bers slain on the field, he had committed eighteen thou- 
sand persons to the executioner. William was then pro- 
claimed governor or regent, with full authority on land 
and sea. In 1581 seven provinces declared their inde- 
pendence of Spain, and Holland and Zealand proclaimed 
William as their sovereign, though he did not accept the 
honor and office until the year following. Spain was 
not ready to take up this gauntlet, and so issued an 
infamous proclamation, offering rewards and honors to 
any one who would serve the church and king by murder- 
ing William. He was miserably assassinated July 10, 
1584; and so perished the "Father William" of the 
Dutch, one whom a high English authority declares to 
have been "the only man in the world's history who 
may be fairly compared with Washington." He was 
succeeded by his son Maurice, than whom a fitter man 
could hardly have been imagined to carry on the strug- 
gle for independence, which was fraught with interest, 
not only to those immediately concerned in it, but also 
to all lovers of liberty and friends of truth. It was 
finally successful, accomplishing their severance from 
the Spanish crown, and also their emancipation from 
the thraldom of the Roman Church. 

The first Dutch Reformed Synod was held at Dort in 



§8 THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY 

1574, and the next year the University of Ley den was 
founded. A thoroughly Calvinistic system of doctrine 
was adopted, the Heidelberg Catechism becoming their 
principal standard. A great controversy arose in the 
church, which led to the famous Synod of Dort of the 
year 1618. The occasion of this was the teaching, by 
Jacobus Arminius, an undeniably good and learned 
man, of the doctrine of "conditional election." His 
doctrine was, that God conditions his election of the 
saved upon their foreseen good works and faith. This 
being at variance with the Calvinistic faith of the Re- 
formed churches in general, was condemned by the 
Synod, and a statement of doctrine adopted entirely 
opposed to this theory. Arminius and his followers 
remonstrated against the decision, gaining for them- 
selves the title of "Remonstrants," and were separated 
from the Reformed Church. During the eighteenth 
century their doctrines, henceforth called "Arminian- 
ism," had considerable influence in some sections of 
Europe, and were adopted, under the lead of Wesley in 
England, for the Wesleyan or Methodist Church, which 
it still continues to hold. 

The Reformed Dutch Church has sent out many ex- 
cellent members to various parts of the new and old 
worlds, who have been potent factors in most of the 
great struggles for human liberty in modern times. A 
large number came across the Atlantic, settling about 
the Hudson river region, where they organized the first 
Reformed congregation in America, and established 
New Amsterdam, which afterwards became the city of 
New York. There are now several offshoots of this 
branch of the great family of Reformed or Presbyterian 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 99 

churches in both hemispheres, notably the Keformed 
(Dutch) Church in the United States, a large evangeli- 
cal and influential denomination. According to a re- 
cent national census of Holland, the old mother Ke- 
formed Church of that country has 1,956,852 adherents. 
This church and its great daughter, the Reformed (Dutch) 
Church in the United States, like most of our churches 
in other than English speaking countries, uses a brief 
evangelical liturgy in public worship. It may also be 
stated just here, that the black gown is worn in the 
pulpit by nearly all Presbyterian or Reformed minis- 
ters on the continent of Europe, in England, Scotland, 
Ireland, and in most other parts of the world where our 
denomination has been established, except in America ; 
&nd even here this solemn symbol of the sacred office 
has not been universally discarded, but is used by the 
Reformed (Dutch) Church, and by an increasing num- 
ber of ministers in various branches of the Presbyterian 
family. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Glimpses East of the Alps and the Rhine. 

IN Germany, where the Reformation accomplished its 
first great victories, its type was mainly "Lutheran," 
as distinguished from "Reformed." Martin Luther, 
by his powerful genius, easily impressed his views of 
the Lord's Supper upon the greater number of his fel- 
low countrymen. It was on the question of the "real 
presence " of the body of Christ in the sacrament that 
the Protestants of the sixteenth century divided, the 
"Reformed" denying, and the "Lutherans" affirming 
it. Still there were great numbers of the Reformed 
even in Germany, and there are now considerable bodies 
of that faith in various parts of the empire. The mat- 
ter of church government did not receive in that coun- 
try the attention it deserved, and which was given to 
it among the Swiss, the French, and in the British 
Isles. It was largely in the hands of the civil rulers in 
Germany, who, not being versed in such things, could 
hardly be expected to formulate a very logical or scrip- 
tural system. It was, however, largely Presbyterian 
even among the Lutherans, though encumbered with 
some features which were foreign to that principle. 

The German Reformed communion adopted what 
has gone into history under the name of the " Heidel- 
berg Catechism." This was prepared by Zacharias 
ioo 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTOEY OF PEESBYTEEIANISM. 101 

Ursinus and Kaspar Olevianus, by order of the Elector 
Frederick III., or "the Pious," and adopted in 1563. 
It came into general use, not only among the Reformed 
in Germany, but also in the Netherlands, Hungary, 
Transylvania, and afterwards in America. Its authors 
had both lived in Zurich and Geneva, and it is easy, to 
see the influence of Zwingli and Calvin in this famous 
doctrinal symbol. 

By the treaty of Westphalia, in 1648, equal rights 
were guaranteed the Eoman Catholics, the Lutherans, 
and the Reformed. These two latter denominations 
are to this day recognized and supported by the Ger- 
man governments, either united in one organization 
under the name of the Evangelical Church, as is the 
case in Baden, Prussia, Wurtemburg, and other states, 
or in their separate existence, as in Hanover, Bremen, 
Brandenburg, and many other provinces. The Reformed 
Church of Hanover has 50,000 adherents; that of 
Bremen the same number, and that of the Rhine pro- 
vinces, 500,000. The Reformed Church of Branden- 
burg has more than twenty congregations, amongst 
them that of the Cathedral of Berlin, of which the Em- 
peror of Germany and his family are members, all 
under the control of the royal consistory. 

Those Reformed Churches of Germany which have 
gone into a sort of formal union with the Lutherans, 
generally maintain their own creed, and use the Heidel- 
berg Catechism. 

It should be stated before leaving this part of Europe,, 
that in the kingdom of Poland there is now a Reformed 
Church, with ten congregations and 6,000 adherents. 

It will be a surprise to many readers to learn that in 



102 the people's history. 

Hungary, now a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, 
there is a body of Presbyterians or Reformed number- 
ing, according to governmental statistics, 2,031,243 ad- 
herents. Through the medium of the "Alliance of 
Reformed Churches throughout the world holding the 
Presbyterian system," this and many other members of 
the great sisterhood are being brought into correspon- 
dence with the American and British churches from 
which they have been separated by distance and by 
difference of language. 

The Reformation was at first introduced into Hun- 
gary chiefly by students who had studied in the Uni- 
versity of Wittenburg from 1522 to 1560. In 1525 the 
Hungarian Diet ordered all the Lutherans burnt. But 
in spite of persecutions the work went on in this beau- 
tiful country, until Synods were held in two places in 
1545 ; and by the year 1558, the Reformation in the 
Lutheran form was spread throughout the land. A 
change of views in the direction of Calvinism soon be- 
gan among the Reformed, partly by the influence of 
certain eminent men who had studied in Switzerland, 
and partly by the dissemination of the writings of Bul- 
linger, Beza and Calvin. The Synod of 1566, under 
the presidency of Gaspar Karolyi, translator of the 
Hungarian Bible, adopted the Genevan Catechism, 
written by Calvin. At the same time it was ordered 
that bread be substituted for the wafer in the com- 
munion. At a subsequent Synod, the Heidelberg Cate- 
chism, and the second Helvetic Confession were added 
to the doctrinal standards of the church. In Hungary, 
as elsewhere, the Reformed were not allowed to exer- 
cise their religion without cruel opposition from the 



OF PEESBYTEKIANISM. 103 

Roman Catholics, and they had to maintain their faith 
in the midst of fiery trials. God gave grace to with- 
stand the hatred of their enemies, and they have . sur- 
vived as a very large body to this day. Indeed seldom, 
if ever, has the Reformation, once established, been 
totally destroyed in any country. 

This completes our present brief review of the his- 
tory of the establishment of the ecclesiastical republics 
holding the Calvinistic theology and the Presbyterian 
government on the European continent. Let us now 
cross the British channel, and begin to trace the out- 
lines of what was really a part of the same great move- 
ment among the English speaking race. 



. CHAPTEK XIV. 

Scotland. — The Eetuening Day. 

THE religious condition of Scotland before the Re- 
formation of the sixteenth century was most de- 
plorable. In no part of Western Europe had the 
degradation of the morals of the clergy been made more 
complete. The bishops had long since given up in- 
structing the people, and were not ashamed to boast 
that they knew nothing of the Scriptures. Neither 
they nor their priests ever preached the gospel, and all 
the teaching the people received was from mendicant 
monks, who wandered about using their office for mer- 
cenary ends. Fully one-half of the wealth of the coun- 
try had been absorbed into the Koman Catholic Church- 
by a system of exactions in all the affairs of life where 
the services of religion were required. Even on his 
death-bed, a man was persuaded to save his soul by 
bequests to the rapacious ecclesiastics, and after life 
departed, the priest demanded his "corpse-present" 
from the sorrowing family. The nation was continually 
drained of its substance, and countless monasteries and 
useless cathedrals were built with what should have gone 
to make homes for the poor. In these places of worship, 
besides the mumbled prayers in a foreign tongue, no- 
thing was given the people but absurd harrangues 
about combats with the devil, penances, the cures by 
104 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 105 

holy water and relics of saints, and the merit of pil- 
grimages to sacred shrines, while the gospel, which "is 
the power of God nnto salvation," was utterly neglected. 

Under these conditions the morals of the clergy fell 
to the lowest point. They were free from the jurisdic- 
tion of the secular courts* and felt at liberty to indulge 
in every form of wickedness. Their shameless glut- 
tony and drunkenness were not the worst of their vices, 
but they wallowed in the grossest lasciviousness. While 
professing chastity, and forbidden, under severe penal- 
ties, to marry, they led lives in open violation of all 
decency and virtue, too base to be described, bestowing 
upon their bastard sons lucrative places in the church 
and the state. No reading of the Bible was allowed, 
nor any criticism of this frightful immorality. Perse- 
cution was their weapon of defence against proposed 
amendment, and for any one to attempt resistance to 
the flood of evil was to lay down his life, in a dungeon 
or at the stake, and when, at last, the new life showed 
itself in the nation, the measures adopted by the priest- 
hood were the same as those of Herod at the birth of 
Christ, when he sought to save himself by the massacre 
of the innocents. Death to all heretics was the rem- 
edy proposed for suppressing the Reformation when it 
began. 

The final suppression of the Culdees as an organiza- 
tion, in 1297, that being the date of their last public 
documents, gave the apostate church control of the na- 
tion, though there, no doubt, were individuals or groups 
here and there which dissented from the doctrines and 
practices which were generally received. In 1407 John 
Eesby, an Englishman, a disciple of "Wickliffe, was 

9 



106 the people's history 

burned for denouncing some of the sins of the church. 
Twenty -five years afterwards, Paul Craw, a Bohemian, 
and follower of Huss, attempted to preach in Scotland 
the doctrines of a purer faith. He was convicted of 
denying transubstantiation, confession, the worship of 
saints, and committed to the fires of martyrdom in 1432 
at St. Andrews. Lest he might proclaim his heresies 
in his last moments, a brass ball was fastened in his 
mouth until his poor body crumbled into ashes. Another 
protest was made in the west of Scotland in 1494. Those 
concerned in it were opprobriously termed Lollards, 
and were tried before the king. But he had too much 
good sense to condemn them for what he must have 
seen had much of reason and truth in it, and dismissed 
them with an admonition. 

A potent influence in bringing about the Reformation 
in Scotland, as in all other countries, was the transla- 
tion of the Scriptures into the language of the common 
people. William Tyndale, who gave the Bible to the 
people of England and Scotland, has never received the 
honor which he deserved as one of the foremost men of 
the Reformation in Great Britain. His Bibles, along 
with the writings of other Reformers, were secretly im- 
ported into Scotland, and handed from group to group 
of anxious seekers after truth, to be read aloud in quiet 
places, and often at the dead of night. Thus the 
"leaven" was introduced which wrought such vast 
changes in Scotland. 

The name of Patrick Hamilton, who now appears on 
the scene, stands at the head of the list of Scottish 
martyrs. He was of royal lineage, a cousin of the 
young King James V., and had been dedicated to the 



OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 107 

priesthood from his birth, the abbacy of Feme being 
conferred upon him in infancy. Being a yonth of su- 
perior talents, fond of learning, he early gave canse for 
uneasiness among the faithful servants of the church 
by his researches in the field of ancient literature. 
Comparing the apostolic times with those in which he 
lived, he saw much to condemn, and was not backward 
in passing censure upon the corruptions everywhere 
manifest. From considerations of personal safety, for 
there were mutterings of a storm gathering against him, 
or from a desire to learn more of the truth, he left the 
country, and spent some time in Wittenberg, under the 
instructions of Luther aud Melancthon. The more he 
progressed in saving knowledge and in piety, the 
stronger became his desire to return to Scotland, that 
he might preach the doctrines of the Reformation to 
his own people. The appearance of this noble youth 
in Scotland again attracted general attention. His 
rank, his courteous manners, his scholarly attainments 
and his eloquence, as he taught the people, seemed 
well-nigh irresistible, and a profound impression was 
made throughout the land. So great was the rising 
power of Patrick Hamilton, fresh from the Reformation 
scenes of Germany, that it at once became evident 
he could not be tolerated, and the only safety for the 
hierarchy lay in his removal, which was accomplished 
in 1528. The cunning clergy contrived to get the king, 
his cousin, away to a distant part of the realm, and then 
decoyed the young reformer to St. Andrews, under 
pretence of wishing to hold a conference with him. 
Having elicited a full avowal of his opinions, they 
caused him to be apprehended, at night, and confined 



108 the people's history 

in the castle. The next clay, lest by some chance their 
victim might escape, he was brought before a conven- 
tion, consisting of the archbishop, a number of bishops, 
abbots, priors, and other dignitaries of the church, and 
condemned to be burned at the stake. The sentence 
was executed before the sun went down. As the 
flames consumed him, he cried out, " How long, O Lord, 
shall darkness cover this realm ? How long wilt thou 
suffer this tyranny of man? Lord Jesus, receive my 
spirit!" And so passed away a heroic soul, but his 
testimony remained, and the gospel he preached went 
on performing its divine mission. There is no doubt 
but that the death of Patrick Hamilton, at the early age 
of twenty-four, accomplished more than his life could 
have done, however long, for it set the nation to asking 
why he died, and to an earnest inquiry into the great 
questions which underlie the existence of the church 
and its work in the world. Many others now began to 
proclaim the new doctrines, which were really the old 
truths of the Scriptures ; and when the archbishop pro- 
posed to put to death all who were guilty of the crime 
of preaching the gospel, he was shrewdly advised to 
"burn them in cellars,- for the smoke of Mr. Patrick 
Hamilton hath infected as many as it hath blown 
upon." However, the cruel persecutions were at length 
resumed, and many suffered martyrdom for the faith. 

The next famous man in the history of those bloody 
times is David Beaton, a man of talent and unscrupu- 
lous ambition, who is better known as Cardinal Beaton. 
He conceived his mission to be to extirpate all heretics. 
Among his many hideous deeds may be mentioned the 
massacre of the martyrs of Perth, in 1543. Five men 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 109 

and one woman were brought before him charged with 
heresy. The men were hanged, but the woman drowned 
in a pool. Her crime was having refused to pray to the 
Virgin. Her husband was executed before her eyes, 
and then she was dragged off, with her infant at her 
breast, to the fatal shore. She committed her child to 
one of her own sex who stood by, and was mercilessly 
cast into the water. Her name was Helen Stark. 

Cardinal Beaton pursued his dreadful work in various 
quarters, vainly fighting against God in the persecution 
of his saints; but he was soon to add another distin- 
guished name to the roll of Scottish martyrs, that of 
George Wishart, brother of the Laird of Pittarrow. 
He was an eloquent and heroic preacher, who shunned 
not to declare the whole counsel of God. 

Having been betrayed into the hands of this infamous 
cardinal, he was carried to St. Andrews, in 1546, the 
year of Luther's death, to be tried and condemned. 
With bags of gunpowder hanging to his person, he was 
led, heavily ironed, to the stake, which had been fixed 
in a convenient place, where Beaton and his retinue 
could look upon his agonies from the castle battlements, 
which had been richly draped with tapestry, and pro- 
vided with cushions for their comfort. The sainted 
martyr kneeled down and prayed three times, " O thou 
Saviour of the world, have mercy on me ! Father in 
heaven, I commend my spirit into thy holy hands!" 
The executioner cast himself upon the ground, begging- 
forgiveness for what he was reluctantly about to do. 
Wishart freely assented, and kissed him. When the 
fires were lighted, the unconfined gunpowder, though 
it exploded, did not put an end to his sufferings. As 



110 THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY 

his lower limbs were consumed, lie exclaimed, " This 
fire torments my body, but in no way abates my spirit !" 
Then, looking towards the cardinal, he uttered these 
memorable words, "He who in such state from that 
high place feedeth his eyes with my torments, within 
few days shall be hanged out at the same window, to 
be seen with as much ignominy as he now leaneth there 
in pride." The rope was then tightened about his neck, 
and his voice was silenced on earth, that it might be 
heard among the blood-washed throng in heaven. 

A number of noblemen and others, stirred with in- 
dignation by this wretched business, determined upon 
the death of the hated cardinal. So, on a subsequent 
day, they entered the castle, and put him to the sword, 
while he howled for mercy, and cried out, " I am a priest, 
I am a priest ! fie ! fie ! all is gone !" His body was then 
exposed for view to the assembled populace, at the 
same window from which he had gazed upon the 
dying agonies of George Wishart. The people regarded 
it as an act of just retribution, and with a feeling of 
stern satisfaction returned quietly to their homes. 

Soon after this, perhaps the greatest Scotchman who 
ever lived, certainly the most useful one, made his home 
in St. Andrews, as co-laborer with John Rough, to help 
him in his contest with the Romanists, for which he 
felt himself insufficient. The person whom Rough se- 
lected and succeeded in securing by his urgency for the 
work was John Knox, the man of all others who has 
done most for the religion of the English speaking 
race, and who, with Luther and Calvin, completes the 
splendid triumvirate of the Reformation. He was 
about beginning a work of which Thomas Carlyle after- 




OF PEESBYTEKIANISM. Ill 



wards wrote : " That which John Knox did for his na- 
tion, I say, we may really call a resurrection as from 

death The people began to live ; they needed 

first of all to do that, at what cost and costs soever. 
Scotch literature and thought, Scotch industry, James 
Watt, David Hume, Walter Scott, Robert Burns, — I 
find Knox and the Reformation acting in the heart's 
core of every one of these persons and phenomena. He 
is the one Scotchman to whom his country and the 
world owe a debt. . . . Honor him! His works have 
not died. The letter of his works dies, as of all men's, 
but the spirit of it never!" 



CHAPTER XV. 

John Knox, the Refokmee. 

THE birth place of the hero of the Scottish Re- 
formation is not known with certainty. It was 
either Gifford or Haddington ; the date was 1505. His 
education was begun at Haddington, and continued in 
the University of Glasgow. He early mastered the 
Latin language, and acquired Greek before he attained 
middle-age, but was ignorant of Hebrew until he passed 
forty-five. His character was much influenced by John 
Major, a professor of moral philosophy and theology in 
Glasgow, and principles were acquired from him which 
were potent in his after life. Knox was an ardent stu- 
dent, not only of the secular branches, but also of divine 
truth. One of his favorite authors was Augustine, 
whose writings aided largely in forming within him 
views of ecclesiastical government and doctrine entirely 
opposed to the received tenets of his time. It was at 
the age of thirty years he began to throw off the shackles 
of Romanism, but not until seven years afterwards did 
he formally declare himself a Protestant. The Reformed 
doctrine had made considerable progress in Scotland 
before Knox accepted it. He had been teaching in 
St Andrews, but finding it impossible to remain in a 
place so completely under the power of Cardinal Bea- 
ton he removed to the south, and there avowed the 

112 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 113 

change in his opinions. The cardinal denounced him 
as a heretic, and sent assassins to put him out of the 
way, but through the kindness of a powerful friend he 
escaped. He at length returned to St. Andrews, which, 
after the death of Cardinal Beaton, remained in the 
hands of the Protestants. John Rough was their chap- 
lain, and Knox was engaged as a teacher, for which 
position he was well qualified. But he was soon called 
by the people, at the instance of John Kough, to the 
higher office of preaching the gospel. It was in the 
church, while the congregation were assembled for wor- 
ship, that Rough informed him publicly of his call, and 
strongly urged his acceptance. Knox, who seems to have 
been unprepared for such an announcement, attempted 
to speak, but was overcome by his feelings, and, burst- 
ing into tears, rushed from the place. But on mature 
reflection he accepted, for he dared not decline the call 
of God through his people. 

This was the beginning of his public work, and he at 
once proceeded to instruct the people on the nature of 
the great controversy of the day. Instead of arguing 
about forms, ceremonies, the mass, confession, and the 
like, he showed the genius of the true reformer, by 
going to the heart of the matter, and denounced the 
Church of Rome as Antichrist. This proposition being 
placed before the public mind, the relative positions of 
the two parties changed. The Romanists were thrown 
upon the defensive, and the Protestants became the at- 
tacking party. Instead of apologizing for their exis- 
tence, they now felt that natural enthusiasm of those who 
have a great mission to accomplish. They gained rapidly 
in the confidence and support of a people who have ever 



114 THE PEOPLE'S HISTOKY 

shown admiration for courage and devotion to principle. 
A public disputation, held in St. Andrews between Knox 
and Bough on one side, and the Romanists on the 
other, resulted in the disgraceful defeat of the latter, 
who proved unable to demonstrate the righteousness of 
their cause. There were other means than argument, 
available to the enemies of the Reformation, and they 
procured the assistance of a French fleet to compel the 
surrender of the castle of St. Andrews, at the same time 
cutting off supplies from the land. The siege was suc- 
cessful, and the place was forced to capitulate in July, 
1547, stipulating that the lives and liberties of the be- 
sieged should be preserved. But no regard was paid 
to these promises, for the captives, Knox being one of 
them, were carried away to France, heavily ironed, and 
there confined to the galleys as slaves. Here our Re- 
former nearly died from sickness, during nineteen 
months of servitude. The end of this mysterious provi- 
dence, however, became manifest afterwards, for God 
had a school of preparation and a work for him else- 
where. As soon as he was released from bondage he 
repaired to England. 

Henry YIII. was dead, and Archbishop Cranmer was 
now free to carry on the work of reforming the English 
church. Henry was no reformer, but had renounced 
allegiance to the Papal See, because he felt his personal 
desires as well as his royal authority hampered by the 
control of Rome. Commanding his subjects to follow 
his example, he punished those who dissented from 
him, the English Pore, with almost as great severity as 
the Roman Pontiff had done. Laws were enacted by 
his parliament against Popery and Lutheranism, 9-^d 



OF PKESBYTERIANISM. 11 

both Papists and Protestants who disobeyed were pun- 
ished together. Whatever may have been the motives 
of this remarkable prince, his work in breaking the con- 
nection of the English church with the great hierarchy, 
was, in the providence of God, made subservient to the 
Reformation, and when he passed away it became 
manifest. 

John Knox, who had refused to go to England dur- 
ing the lifetime of Henry VIII. , now found there a 
ready field for work. The principal difficulty in the 
way of Cranmer's reforms was the lack of Protestant 
preachers, most of the clergy being unfit for the office, 
or secretly attached to Rome. The wise primate of 
England, therefore, determined to import theological 
professors for the Universities of Oxford and Cam- 
bridge from Germany, that they might train up a corps 
of evangelical men for the work. In the meantime, it 
was necessary to use all the available material at hand. 
Knox was therefore called into service, and sent to 
Berwick, where he labored very successfully during 
two years. But his courageous attacks upon the errors 
of the church excited the displeasure of the Bishop of 
Durham, who had him called to account for his preach- 
ing. He defended himself so well, however, as to silence 
his adversaries and command the respectful attention 
of a considerable portion of the kingdom. He was soon 
after appointed one of the six chaplains in ordinary to 
King Edward the sixth, the business of these preachers 
being to itinerate throughout the nation, reforming the 
church, as wel 1 as officiating at court. 

It is a fact of interest to Episcopalians, as well as 
Presbyterians, that during the chaplaincy of John Knox 



116 THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY 

to the king, he was called upon for advice in the re- 
vision of the Book of Common Prayer. Through his 
influence largely the notion of the corporeal presence 
of Christ in the sacrament was excluded. An eminent 
churchman afterwards complained that "a runnagate 
Scot did take away the adoration or worshipping of 
Christ in the sacrament, by whose procurement that 
heresy was put into the communion book; so much 
prevailed that one man's authority at that time." In 
the following year he was employed in revising the 
" Articles of Religion," before they were adopted by 
parliament. They consisted at that time of forty-two, 
but in 1562 they were reduced to their present number, 
from which they derived the title of "The Thirty-nine 
Articles." The salary of Knox as chaplain to King 
Edward VI. was forty pounds per annum ; but he labored 
incessantly, preaching nearly every day, and striving in 
many other ways to establish the truth in the hearts of 
the people. While ministering at Berwick, he had be- 
come engaged to Marjory Bowes, a young lady whom 
he afterwards married. 

Such a radical reformer as Knox could not but meet 
with opposition from those favorable to the papacy, and 
he was arraigned by them before the council. He vin- 
dicated his preaching, and gained favor at court by his 
defence, and Archbishop Cranmer was directed to offer 
him an important charge in London. He declined, on 
the ground that he did not feel free to accept it while 
the condition of the English Church remained what it 
was. Edward VI. afterwards, with the concurrence of 
his privy council, offered him a bishopric ; but he re- 
jected it, giving as his reason that the office was desti- 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 117 

fcute of divine authority in the Scriptures. Neverthe- 
less, he continued his arduous and successful labors. 
There was in England at that time a strong sentiment 
in favor of Knox's views of doctrine and church govern- 
ment, which were shared by the devoted young king, 
and candid historians declare that, but for his untimely 
death, and the accession of Mary, the Church of Eng- 
land would in all probability have been reconstructed on 
the Presbyterian principle, as was the case in Scotland. 
When Mary ascended the throne all was changed, 
and Knox, after five years in England, fled, along with 
thousands of others, to Switzerland, to escape the fate 
of Hooper, Latimer, Kidley and Cranmer, who were 
burned at the stake during the five years of this bloody 
reign, 1553-1558. Our Reformer now entered into a 
warm friendship with Calvin, which continued up to 
the death of the latter, in 1564. In Geneva the exiled 
Scotchman addressed himself with ardor to studying 
more thoroughly the theology and polity of the Re- 
formed church, and likewise to the acquisition of the 
Hebrew language, though he was now nearly fifty years 
of age. Calvin was then in the zenith of his power, 
and Geneva swarmed with Protestant exiles from nearly 
all parts of Europe, who had come for protection, but 
who had really been sent hither by Providence to school, 
that when they returned to their homes they might be 
better prepared for the work God had for them to do. 
He was called to the charge of a congregation of British 
exiles at Frankfort, Germany, but did not find it com- 
fortable to remain there, by reason of the ritualistic 
tendencies of some Romanizing Anglicans, and he re- 
turned to Geneva. 
io 



118 THE PEOPLE'S HISTOEY 

In 1555 Knox made a visit to Scotland, and while 
there succeeded in inducing the Protestants to give up 
altogether their attendance upon the Romish services, 
and to separate themselves formally from the apostate 
church. At the urgent request of the Earls Marischai 
and Glencairn, he addressed a letter to the queen- 
regent in behalf of the Reformation. In this epistle 
he wrote, among other vigorous sentences, " I come iu 
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, affirming that the 
religion which ye maintain is damnable idolatrie; the 
which I offer myself to prove by the most evident tes- 
timonies of Godde's Scriptures. And in this quarrelle, 
I present myself against all the papistes within the 
realme, desiring none other armore but Godde's holy 
word, and the liberty of my tonge." 

"While occupied with these labors, he was called to 
the pastorate of the English congregation in Geneva, 
and accepted. He had hardly left Scotland when, 
learning that he was well out of the way, the valiant 
clergy condemned his soul to damnation and his body 
to the flames, causing him to be burnt in effigy at the 
town cross in Edinburgh. The two years spent with 
his family in Geneva, in the bosom of his beloved flock, 
were the most peaceful of his otherwise stormy life. 
But the time of rest was soon over. A call was brought 
to him by two Scottish gentlemen, endorsed by the Earl 
of Glencairn, Lords Lorn, Erskine and James Stuart, to 
return and take charge of the Reformation in his native 
land. Calvin and others advised that "he could not 
refuse the call without showing himself rebellious to 
God and unmerciful to his country." But a change in 
the face of public affairs in Scotland caused those who 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 119 

called Knox to address him another letter, which he 
received on his journey, beseeching him to postpone 
his return to that country ; and he sadly retraced his 
steps to Geneva. The rest of his time on the continent 
was largely spent in writing letters of instruction and 
encouragement to his friends in Scotland, confirming 
them in the faith, and contributing not a little to pre- 
pare the people for the work he was afterwards to do 
among them. In 1559 he left Geneva for the last time, 
to spend the remainder of his life, thirteen eventful 
years, in Scotland. Through much trial and persecu- 
tion the Reformation had been leavening the nation, 
and in some places there had been open ruptures with 
Rome. A considerable number of noblemen had also 
adopted the Protestant faith, and were doing all in their 
power to defend it. When it was known that Knox 
had returned to Scotland, though he was under sentence 
of death, there was general consternation among the 
papists. Nor was it without good reason, for the re- 
turn of their great leader infused courage into the friends 
of the Reformation. "As for the fear of danger that 
may come to me," said Knox, "let no man be solicitous ; 
for my life is in the custody of him whose glory I seek. 
I desire the hand and weapon of no man to defend me." 
He preached a powerful sermon in St. Andrews, which 
resulted in the stripping of the churches of images, the 
destruction of the monasteries, and the establishment 
of the Reformed religion in that town. In Perth the 
same thing had been done, and throughout the kingdom 
there was a general uprising of the people. At Perth 
what was called "The Second Covenant" was drawn 
up and signed, by a number of noble lords in the name 



120 the people's history 

of the whole congregation, pledging themselves to 
mutual support and defence in the cause of truth. 
These "lords of the congregation" resolved now to 
abolish the idolatrous rites of popery. They took pos- 
session of Perth, St. Andrews and Stirling, and marched 
to Edinburgh, the queen-regent retiring with her forces 
before them. Word was sent officially to her by the 
lords, that they had no intention of throwing off their 
allegiance, but were only contending for the purifica- 
tion of religion. John Knox was chosen by the people 
of Edinburgh to be Jieir minister, and he immediately 
entered upon his labors among them. Hostilities were 
kept up until the next year, when the queen-regent 
died. After this event, which removed a great obstacle 
to the establishment of the Reformed faith in Scotland, 
parliament was Called to settle the religious affairs of 
the kingdom. The papacy was abolished, and Presby- 
terianism adopted in its stead. The first General As- 
sembly of the Church of Scotland met the same year, 
1560, on the 20th day of December, and consisted of 
forty members, of which number only six were min- 
isters. 

At this Assembly what was called " The First Book of 
Discipline," drawn up by Knox and five other ministers, 
was adopted. It applied the Presbyterian principle to 
the government of the congregation. As ministers were 
scarce, superintendents or travelling preachers were ap- 
pointed, each to have charge of the work in a certain 
district. A few extracts from this "First Buik" may 
not prove uninteresting. " It appertaineth to the pepill, 
and to every several congregation, to elect their minister. 
Altogether this is to be avoided, that any man be vio- 



OF PRESBYTERIAN ISM. 121 

lentlj intrused or thrust upon any congregation." He 
was to be strictly " examinated," as to his "lyiff and 
maneris," and " doctryne and knawledge." In the elec- 
tion of officers care was to be taken "that every man 
may gyif his vote freelie." The election ef elders and 
deacons was annual, and the kirk (church) session met 
every week. In 1581 the office of elder was made for 
life. 

A splendid educational system was prepared by Knox. 
There were to be parish schools, where grammar and 
Latin were to be taught; colleges in every important 
town; and universities in Glasgow, St. Andrews, and 
Aberdeen. This scheme was not fully carried out at that 
time. Knox believed in compulsory education, which 
should be free to the poor. "No fader, of what estait 
and condition that ever he be, may use his children at 
his own fantasie, especially in their youthheade, but 
all must be compelled to bring up their children in 
learnyng and virtue." 

In August, 1561, not long after the second General 
Assembly, Mary, the young and beautiful queen, arrived 
from France, to begin her unfortunate reign. She came 
fully possessed with two great ideas : one, to establish her 
claim to the English as well as the Scottish crown, and 
the other, to bring back Scotland into the bosom of the 
Church of Rome. In the first she had to contend with 
her mighty cousin, Elizabeth, and in the other with the 
still mightier John Knox. In both she was unsuc- 
cessful. She attempted to control the Reformer by her 
personal charms and influence, as she had the Scottish 
lords, but she found him utterly unimpressible, either 
by flattery or threats, and seems at last to have con- 



122 the people's history 

ceived for him the bitterest hatred, mingled, it must be 
said, with respect. Knox, after some experience of her 
ways, declared "If there be not in her a proud mind, 
a crafty wit, and an indurate heart against God and 
his truth, my judgment faileth me." 

He had a hard struggle to secure the independence 
of the Assemblies of the church against Queen Mary 
and her able secretary, Maitlancl. "Take from us the 
liberties of Assemblies, and take from us the gospel," 
said he. But he so far succeeded that the queen was 
obliged to content herself with a compromise, that a 
representative of the crown should have a place in the 
meetings. The growth of the church was now very 
rapid, in spite of all difficulties, and seven years after 
its organization, instead of numbering forty laymen and 
six ministers, the General Assembly contained two hun- 
dred and fifty-two ministers. 

It would be difficult to conceive of a more unsuitable 
queen for the hardy, and perhaps at that time turbulent 
Scotch, than was Mary. Her principles totally opposed 
to theirs, she never understood them, but fancied her- 
self persecuted because they contended manfully for 
the truth and christian liberty. Her life was a failure ; 
that of Knox a marvellous success. He has been called 
hard and severe, and he was ; but who quarrels with 
the oak for its toughness or the granite for its strength ? 
He was hard, and God made him thus, but so were the 
times ; and the hard work he did has come down to us 
as one of the grandest legacies of the past to the present 
and the future. Mary accused Knox of treason, because 
of a circular letter of his calling the lords together to 
witness the trial of some Protestants on a certain occa- 



OF PRESS YTERIANISM. 123 

si-^n ; but when lie confronted her in the midst of her 
council, he put them all to confusion, and threw the 
queen into tears of angry disappointment by his mas- 
terly and successful defence of his conduct. They felt 
themselves overwhelmed by the irresistible power of 
the man. 

He also projected by his genius a new life into the 
people. As he preached the gospel in thunder tones 
from old St. Giles Cathedral to the multitudes assem- 
bled there, he imparted that knowledge of the truth, 
that courage, that power of eternal life, which produced 
the character and purpose which were going to reform 
Scotland more thoroughly than any other country, and 
make it a model and an inspiration to the Protestant 
world. 

But the mightiest sun must set, and his day was 
drawing to a close. James Melville, who was a student 
at St. Andrews, writes a description of him in that city 
the year before he died. "Of all the benefits I had 
that year was the coming of that most notable prophet 
and apostle of our nation, Mr. John Knox. . . Mr. Knox 
would sometimes come in and repose him in our college 
yard, and call us scholars unto him and bless us, and 
exhort us to know God and his work in our country, 
and stand by the good cause. . . . He was very weak. 
I saw him every day go with a staff in one hand and 
good godly Richard Ballantine assisting him from the 
abbey to the parish church, and, by the said Richard 
and another servant, lifted up to the pulpit, where 
he behooved to lean at his first entry ; but ere he had 
done with his sermon, ho was so active and vigorous 
that he was like to ding that pulpit into blads, and fly 



124 the people's history 

out of it." After he became too weak from disease to 
go to St. Giles Cathedral, he would address the con- 
gregation standing in the street, from the window of his 
house in the Canongate. He had a tender and faith- 
ful nurse in his young wife, Marjory having long ago 
died, and he having married Margaret Stewart. The 
nobility and worth of Scotland waited about his house 
to hear tidings of hope that his life might be spared. 
" Go read," said he to his wife in his last hour, "where 
I cast my first anchor." She knew to what he referred, 
and read the seventeenth chapter of John's gospel. 
After giving expression to some striking words of 
triumph over sin and Satan and death, he gently ex- 
pired. 

"In this manner," wrote the faithful Ballantine, "de- 
parted this man of God, the light of Scotland and the 
church within the same, the mirror of godliness, and 
pattern and example to all true ministers in purity of 
life, soundness of doctrine, and boldness in reproving 
wickedness ; one that cared not for the favor of men, 
how great soever they were. What dexterity in teach- 
ing, boldness in reproving, and hatred of wickedness 
were in him, my ignorant dullness is not able to declare, 
which, if I should labor to set out, it were as one who 
would light a candle to enable men to see the sun." 

His death occurred on Monday, the 24th of Novem- 
ber, 1572. Standing by the grave into which the body 
of John Knox had just been lowered, in the presence 
of a great multitude who had come to his burial, the 
Regent said, " Here lieth one who never feared the face 
of man." 

The old churchyard of St. Giles church has been 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 125 

turned into a busy street, and nothing marks the spot 
where, under clang of hoof and wheel, rest the ashes of 
Scotland's greatest man, but a small plate of brass in 
the pavement, bearing the simple inscription : 

"IK, 1572. 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

A Long Conflict. 

THE Church of Scotland, bereft of its great leader, 
was, for a, time, like a ship without a rudder. He 
had hardly passed away when reactionary tendencies 
in the direction of Episcopacy began to show them- 
selves. But God had been preparing Andrew Melville, 
by a thorough training in continental schools, for the 
emergency. This devoted and scholarly man assailed 
Episcopacy with great power, as not only inexpedient, 
but utterly opposed to the church government of the 
Scriptures. The aristocracy, as was natural, generally 
favored it, from an instinctive self-interest, feeling that 
it was more in sympathy with their privileges. The 
monarchical principle and the republican could never 
affiliate. Under the influence of Melville in 1580, the 
General Assembly declared "the pretended office of a 
bishop to be unlawful, having neither foundation nor 
warrant in the Word of God." The next year, 1581, a 
complete law book for the church, called " The Second 
Book of Discipline," was prepared under Melville's in- 
spiration, which in 1592 became the basis of the act of 
parliament establishing Presbyterianism as the religion 
of the realm. This did not bring settled peace, by any 
means; for Mary's son, James VI. of Scotland and I. 
of England, uniting the sovereign power of both king- 
126 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF PBESBYTERIANISM. 127 

cloms in himself, was never a Presbyterian. It is diffi- 
cult for a king to be republican in his religion, espe- 
cially when the church and the state are united. James, 
from political and other motives, endeavored constantly 
to make inroads upon Presbyterianism in Scotland, and 
bring the church in that country into uniformity with 
that of England. A number of mediaeval festivals were 
imposed upon the Scotch, and their estates were re- 
stored to the bishops. His son, Charles L, was even 
more zealous, but less wise, than his father, and pressed 
his reactionary measures so far as to bring about a revo- 
lution which deprived him of his throne and his life. 
One of the most eminent authorities of the present day 
says : " There is no doubt that the introduction, at the 
suggestion of Archbishop Laud, of the Book of Canons 
and the Book of Common Prayer, was the immediate 
occasion of the English Rebellion." (Schaff-IIerzog 
Encyclopcedia.) 

The Dean of Edinburgh, acting under orders from 
King Charles, attempted to introduce the liturgy in St. 
Giles' in the presence of the privy council and magis- 
trates and a large assembly of the people, on Sunday, 
July 23, 1637. But it was unsuccessful. According to 
the old story, Jenny Geddes, an herb-woman, hearing 
the archbishop call on the dean to read the " collect 
for the day," misunderstood the word, but not the act, 
and cried out, "The deil gi'e ye the colic! Yillaine, 
dost thou say mass at my lug?" (ear). "With that she 
hurled the stool whereon she had 'been sitting at the 
head of the Dean. This was the signal for an uprising 
of the congregation, and the people shouted through 
the streets, "A pope, a pope! Antichrist! The sword 



128 THE people's history 

of the Lord and of Gideon !" This outburst of popular 
indignation was not confined to Edinburgh, but there 
was such violent opposition manifested throughout the 
kingdom that the project was abandoned by the clergy. 
Not so with Charles, who raised an army to force Epis- 
copacy upon Scotland, and began a foolish conflict which 
ended in his own destruction and the establishment of a 
new government in England, with Cromwell at its head. 
Stanley says, " The stool" (now in the Museum of Edin- 
burgh), "which was on that occasion flung at the head 
of the Dean of Edinburgh, extinguished the English 
Liturgy entirely in Scotland, for the seventeenth cen- 
tury, to a great extent even to the nineteenth, and gave 
to the civil war in England an impulse which only ended 
in the overthrow of the church and the monarchy." 

Among the prominent actors in the events of those 
times were "The Covenanters." John Craig, a chap- 
lain of James VI., had written, in 1580, a document 
called " The King's Confession," because signed by his 
royal master, but which was known afterwards as " The 
National Covenant," and was subscribed by persons of 
all ranks. It was a pledge of faithfulness to the Re- 
formed religion in Scotland. It became a very impor- 
tant factor in the events of subsequent years. During 
the struggle which followed, Alexander Henderson, 
after Knox the Scottish ecclesiastic most honored for 
his talents, statesmanship and patriotism, prepared a 
"bond," and Warriston, a "legal warrant," adapting 
the "National Covenant" to the exigencies of that crisis. 
It pledged the subscribers "to adhere to and defend 
the true religion, and forbear the practice of all inno- 
vations already introduced into the worship of God, 



OF PRESBYTEEIANISM. 129 

and to labor by all means lawful to recover the purity 
and liberty of the gospel as it was professed and es- 
tablished before the aforesaid innovations." Hender- 
son delivered a powerful sermon in Greyfriars church, 
Edinburgh, on February 28, 1638, after which it was 
signed in the churchyard, tombstones serving for writing 
tables, by thousands of persons, some of whom, it is 
said, drew blood from their arms to use instead of ink. 
It cost many of them the blood of their hearts eventu- 
ally. Copies of the covenant were distributed through- 
out Scotland, and signed by great numbers of the best 
people in the land. On that memorable day, in old 
Greyfriars churchyard, Henderson said the people of- 
fered themselves like dewdrops in the morning for the 
service of heaven, as they swore allegiance to the 
King of kings. The covenanters at last triumphed, 
and in 1639 the "Barrier Act" was passed by parlia- 
ment, providing that no change should thereafter be 
made in the laws of the church without the sanction of 
the Assemblies of the church. 

The following is a recent testimony to the worth of 
the covenanters, from the pen of the Rev. Charles 
Spurgeon, one of the broadest, greatest men of the 
nineteenth century: 

" In my bedroom I have hung up the picture of an 
old covenanter. He sits in a wild glen with his Bible 
open before him on a huge stone. He leans on his 
great broadsword, and his horse stands quietly at his 
side. Evidently he smelleth the battle afar off, and is 
preparing for it by drinking in some mighty promise. 
As you look into the old man's face you can almost 
hear him saying to himself, ' For the crown of Christ 
ii 



130 the people's histoey 

and the covenant I would gladly lay down my life this 
day.' They did lay down their lives, too, right glori- 
ously, and Scotland owes to her covenanting fathers far 
more than she knows. It was a grand day that in 
which they spread the solemn league and the covenant 
upon the tombstones of the old kirkyard in Edinburgh, 
and all sorts of men came forward to set their names to 
it. Glorious was that roll of worthies. There were the 
lords of the covenant and the common men of the cov- 
enant; and some pricked a vein and dipped the pen 
into their blood, that they might write their names with 
the very fluid of their hearts. All over England also 
there were men who entered into a like solemn league 
and covenant, and met together to worship God accord- 
ing to their light, and not according to human order- 
books. They were resolved upon this one thing, that 
Home should not come back to place and power while 
they could lift a hand against her ; neither should any 
other power in throne or parliament prevent the free 
exercise of their consciences for Christ's cause and cov- 
enant." 

Not many years after this the war between Charles I. 
and his parliament began, bringing into eminence Oliver 
Cromwell, whom it required centuries for his country- 
men to discover, under the influence of Macaulay and 
Thomas Carlyle, to be the greatest of all Englishmen, 
the foremost man of his age, and one who deserves to 
be honored through all time. While he ruled England 
his country was respected by all the powers of Europe. 
The next year after Charles I. fled from Whitehall, Lon- 
don, to return no more until his execution, while Crom- 
well was rising among his compatriots as their leader, a 



OF PKESBYTEKIANISM. 131 

great gathering of ministers and elders from both king- 
doms was called to meet in Westminster Abbey. It has 
become historic under the name of "The Westminster 
Assembly." It sat from 1643 to 1649, and prepared 
the noblest confession of faith ever given to the world. 
The English divines had already met, and now requested 
the assistance of commissioners from the Church of 
Scotland. Another celebrated declaration, also called a 
" Covenant," or " The Solemn League and Covenant," 
was drawn up by Alexander Henderson, in conference 
with English commissioners to Edinburgh. It was 
adopted by the General Assembly in that city on the 
17th day of August, 1643, with emotions of the deepest 
solemnity, sent up to London, and there accepted and 
subscribed by the English Parliament and the West- 
minster Assembly. 

" The Solemn League and Covenant bound the united 
kingdoms to endeavor the preservation of the reformed 
religion in the Church of Scotland, in doctrine, worship, 
discipline, and government, and the reformation of reli- 
gion in the kingdoms of England and Ireland, accord- 
ing to the Word of God and the example of the best- 
reformed churches, — the extirpation of popery and 
prelacy, — the defence of the king's person, authority, 
and honor, — and the preservation and defence of the 
true religion and liberties of the kingdom in peace and 
unity." 

The object of this League was to secure uniformity 
in the religious worship of the two countries, and the 
Westminster Assembly was charged with preparing a doc- 
trinal basis for the accomplishment of this end, a Book 
of Discipline and a Directory for Worship. Among 



132 the people's histoky 

the commissioners, ministers and elders, from Scotland 
were three remarkable divines, Alexander Henderson, 
Samuel Rutherford, and George Gillespie. The last 
named was the youngest member of the Assembly, and 
it is said that when they were about to attempt an 
answer to the question, "What is God?" they called 
on him to pray, and that the introduction to his prayer 
was taken as the definition, which is now well known as 
a part of the Shorter Catechism. The Assembly was 
called by parliament, and consisted of Episcopalians, 
Independents, and Presbyterians. The Episcopal di- 
vines declined to act ; so the work was left to the two 
latter. The Independents were a small minority, yet 
they gave a deal of trouble in the progress of the meet- 
ing. Before the arrival of the Scottish commissioners, 
parliament and the Westminster Assembly had resolved 
upon the abolition of prelacy in the Church of England, 
though what form of church government should be 
adopted in its place was an open question. The Eng- 
lish Presbyterians, not having been so well trained in 
Presbyterian polity, relied mainly upon the Scottish 
divines for the explanation and defence of that system 
of church government. They were singularly well 
qualified for their work. 

The first struggle in the Assembly was with the Eras- 
tians, who believed that the church should be under the 
authority of- the state. The Presbyterians opposed it, 
and offered a statement for adoption, to the effect that 
the church is an independent institution under Christ, 
its Head and King. They carried their point in the 
Assembly, but parliament refused to enact the proposi- 
tion. The Independents contended against the Presby- 



OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 133 

terians, but failing to maintain their own views in the 
Assembly, they labored with the members of parliament 
and officers in the army, at the same time causing vexa- 
tious delays by useless discussion. But the Assembly 
was overwhelmingly Presbyterian, and that great system 
eventually carried the day. 

The opening sermon was by Dr. Twisse, from John 
xiv. 18, "I will not leave you comfortless; I will come 
to you." The Assembly continued its work until 1649, a 
period of nearly six years. When they submitted the 
Confession of Faith to parliament, it was returned to them 
with the order that they add, at the bottom of the pages, 
the texts from Scripture to prove all the doctrines set 
forth in the book. They were familiar with the various 
Reformed Confessions which had been adopted by other 
Protestant churches of Europe, and this knowledge was 
of great help to them in their work. The results of this 
Westminster Assembly's labors have been of inestimable 
value in moulding the thought and character of millions 
of people, but uniformity of faith and worship was not 
secured in Great Britain. The Confession of Faith, 
Catechisms, Discipline, and Directory for Worship, were 
adopted only by Scotland at that time, though they have 
since become the doctrinal basis of nearly all English- 
speaking Presbyterian churches throughout the world. 1 

The constitution of the Church of Scotland was now 
well elaborated, both as to doctrine and government ; 
but just before it, in the future, awaited another terri- 
ble ordeal of persecution. The execution of Charles I., 
at Whitehall, was sharply condemned in Scotland, be- 

1 For a full account of this famous body, see Hetherington's ' ' His- 
tory of the Westminster Assembly of Divines. " 



134 the people's history 

cause the Scotch, while contending for liberty to wor- 
ship God, were truly loyal to the government. This 
threw them into antagonism with Cromwell. "Prince 
Charlie " took refuge among them. They proclaimed him 
king, with the title of Charles II., and he subscribed the 
" Solemn League and Covenant," thus becoming a " Cov- 
enanter." This act proved afterwards to have been one 
of hypocrisy ; and when he was restored to the govern- 
ment of the two kingdoms, in 1660, a bitter persecu- 
tion began, which lasted twenty-eight years, or until 
the Revolution, by which William and Mary acceded 
to the throne. In 1661 Episcopacy was re-established 
in Scotland. The Covenants were denounced, and all 
who adhered to them declared to be traitors. The 
Marquis of Argyle was beheaded and James Guthrie 
hanged the same year, and those scenes began to be 
enacted throughout Scotland which have ever since 
been regarded as affording at once exhibitions of the 
most cruel tyranny and bigotry, and of the noblest 
heroism in devotion to religious convictions. Those 
were the days of "the Covenanters," the annals of 
whose wrongs should bring a glow of righteous indig- 
nation to every true heart which reads them. Diocesan 
courts were set up, and no minister was allowed to ex- 
ercise his office except by their consent. The Earl of 
Lauderdale was sent to the west country to enforce 
this system ; but four hundred ministers resigned their 
charges rather than submit to what was in direct viola- 
tion of their consciences and their covenant. They 
were then forbidden to hold services, under penalty of 
death. Those who attended such services were pun- 
ished by fines and imprisonment. Bodies of troops 






OF PKESBYTERIANISM. 135 

scoured the country, under such men as Sir James 
Turner and Graham of Claverhouse, hated names in 
Scottish history, to break up conventicles or out-door 
assemblies for worship, and to kill the saints of God. 
The Duke of York, afterwards James II., made himself 
especially odious to the people, both before and after 
his coronation, in 1686. The acts of government in 
those terrible times were such as would disgrace any 
people, however depraved, and could hardly be sur- 
passed in barbarity by the deeds of untaught savages. 
During those twenty-eight years eighteen thousand 
persons were put to death. The sod of Scotland was 
crimsoned with the blood of its noblest and best. An- 
other Marquis of Argyle, son of the former, was be- 
headed in Edinburgh, before St. Giles Cathedral. Men 
and women throughout the kingdom were shot, put to 
the sword, and tied to stakes fastened in the edge of 
the sea, that a slow tide might torture them before death 
relieved their sufferings. One of the persecutors, Bishop 
Sharp, was killed in the moors near St. Andrews by a 
few men wrought to madness by his cruelties. A rising 
of the people took place in Galloway in 1666, but it re- 
sulted in defeat near Edinburgh. In another conflict 
the Covenanters defeated Claverhouse; but at the fa- 
mous battle of Bothwell Bridge, in 1679, they were 
vanquished, and the blue banner, inscribed with " Christ 
our King and Covenant," was laid in the dust. 

At Sanquhar, a beautiful hamlet among the hills of 
Dumfriesshire, was published, in 1680, a declaration 
disowning Charles II. as king, in consequence of his 
cruel conduct, and his violation of his oath as well as 
the laws of the country. One of the prominent authors 



136 the people's histoey 

of this " Sanquhar declaration," was Eichard Cameron, 
who gave his name to the party call " Cameronians," 
or Reformed Presbyterians. At Airdmoss they met the 
royal troops, and were defeated, Cameron himself being 
killed. Another "declaration" was made in the same 
town five years afterwards. On a granite shaft in 
Sanquhar may be seen at this day the following impres- 
sive and profoundly suggestive inscription : 

"In commemoration of 

The two famous Sanquhar Declarations, which were published on this spot, 
ichere stood the ancient cross of the Burgh. 

The one by the Rev. Richard Cameron, on June 22, 1680 ; 

The other by the Rev. James Renwice, on the 25th of May, 1685. 

The Killing Time. 

If you would know the nature of their crime, 
Then read the story of their time. " 

In old Greyfriars' churchyard', Edinburgh, conve- 
niently near the Grassmarket, where many martyrs 
perished, is another remarkable inscription similar to 
this. The fortunate traveller whose feet press the 
sacred soil of this place where the covenant was signed, 
under the inspiration of the immortal Henderson, en- 
quires for the "Martyrs' Monument." He is led to an 
obscure corner, where, in ancient times, was the hole 
into which the bodies of executed criminals were thrown, 
and is confronted by a modest stone rising from among 
the ivies which embrace the spot. Cold indeed is the 
man who can stand there and read, without a quickened 
soul, these quaint and pregnant sentences : 

"Halt, passenger, take heed ! What do you see? 
This tomb doth show for what some men did die. 



OF PKESBYTERIANISM. 137 

Here lies interred the dust of those who stood 

'Gainst perjury, resisting unto blood, 

Adhering to the covenants and laws, 

Establishing the same, which was the cause 

Their lives were sacrificed unto the lust 

Of prelatists abjured. Though here their dus* 

Lies mixed with murderers and othei jrew, 

"Whom justice justly did to death pursue; 

But as for them, no cause was to be found, 

Constant and steadfast, zealous witnessing 

For the prerogatives of Christ their king ; 

"Which truths were sealed by famous Guthrie's head, 

And all along to Mr. Een wick's blood ; 

They did endure the wrath of enemies, 

Reproaches, torments, deaths, and injuries; 

But yet they're those who from such troubles came, 

And now triumph in glory with the Lamb. " 

"From May 27th, 1661, that the most noble Marquis of Argyle was 
beheaded, to the 17th of February, 108S, that Mr. James Renwick suf- 
fered, were, one way or other, murdered or destroyed, for the same 
cause, about eighteen thousand ; of whom were execute at Edinburgh, 
about an hundred, of noblemen, gentlemen, ministers, and others; no- 
ble martyrs for Jesus Chkist. The most of them lie here." 

"For a particular account of the cause and manner of their suffer- 
ings see the Cloud of Witnesses, Criukshank's, and Defoe's Histories. " 

"Rev. vi. 9, 10, 11. Rev. vii. 14." 

Had the Covenanters been wholly crushed, religious 
liberty would have well-nigh perished in Great Britain ; 
but they conquered, though they died. The time of 
deliverance was coming; the edict had gone forth in 
Heaven. In the year 1688 James II. was driven from 
his throne, and William, Prince of Orange, and Mary 
acceded to the royal prerogative. Presbyterianism was 
then again established by law in Scotland, though it 
was declared that there should be no persecution for 
religious opinion, but that there should be toleration for 



138 the people's history of peesbyteeianism. 

all. So ended the persecutions in Scotland. God having 
purified his people in the fire, developing the finest 
system of doctrine and church government ever wrought 
out from the days of the apostles up to that time, now 
led them into the green pastures of peace. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

"My Kingdom is not of this World." — The Final 
Establishment of this Principle in Scotland. 

A THOUGHTFUL review of all that lias gone be- 
fore will suggest to the reader that the funda- 
mental cause of nearly all persecutions in the ages of 
history has been the entanglement of the affairs of 
church and state. These are two distinct institutions, 
and, in most ways, independent of one another. The 
state can only deal with the church by way of protect- 
ing its rights of property or of person, as it would any 
merely human organization. It has no authority to say 
what the church shall teach, nor what any man shall 
believe. It can only punish men for the commission of 
crime. Nor can the church intrude into the domain of 
the state. It may humbly petition the state in cases 
extraordinary, but its dealings with civil government 
are usually through the individual, by preaching " the 
gospel to every creature," and endeavoring to make 
men good citizens, by making them good Christians. 
The utmost punishment any church court may right- 
fully inflict is excommunication. To take a man's pro- 
perty, his liberty, or his life, for his opinions or his con- 
duct, however bad, is not within the scope of its charter, 
given by her Great Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. 
i39 



140 the people's histoky 

The lust for power first corrupted the church and 
built up the papacy. This same lust demanded control 
of the civil governments, and, in many cases, succeeded 
in using it for the punishment of heretics. Having re- 
ceived the church into this copartnership, the state often 
turned upon the church and forced it to act contrary 
to the will of its divine Lord. The church cannot have 
two kings and be at peace, and highly significant was 
the inscription on the Covenanters' banner, " Christ our 
King and Covenant." 

The Church of the Reformation did not grasp this 
great principle at once. It held that the state must 
indeed leave the church free, but should at the same 
time support it. Along this line the struggles of ages 
were carried on, until it began to dawn upon the con- 
sciousness of the church that in the world there are 
two distinct governments — the civil, with its temporal 
laws and penalties, and the church, with its spiritual 
laws and penalties. The great questions of theology, 
or the being of God, were settled, in human science, 
in the early centuries after the apostles ; next came those 
of Anthropology, or the nature of man, which were the 
subject of the Augustinian and Pelagian controversy, it 
being finally acknowledged that human nature is essen- 
tially sinful ; then followed the great controversy of the 
Reformation period, in which Soteriology, how men are 
saved, was elaborated, in the historic doctrine of justi- 
fication by faith. Ecclesiology, or the nature of the 
church, was the problem then laid down for men to 
master. It has caused a mighty strife, but the sky 
is clearing again, and the church is becoming mani- 
fest as a spiritual commonwealth. May it not stand 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 141 

before the world at last, disentangled from all un- 
holy alliances, the Bride of Christ, "comely as Jeru- 
salem ? " 

When "William III. became king of England, in 1688, 
there was a radical revolution, because the people s rep- 
resentatives placed him on the throne, he being elected to 
the office by parliament. The "divine right of kings" 
died cruelly indeed, but died when parliament put 
Charles I. to death. And the logic of that event 
was, if we can destroy a king, we can make one. In 
other words, the representatives of the people ruled, 
and William was in sympathy with that great principle, 
so the government was established on a new basis, that 
of the consent of the people, and not the alleged 
"divine right" of a king. From that day to this the 
British sovereigns have held their power under the 
final consent of the governed. As long as they have 
such noble monarchs as her Royal Majesty Yictoria, 
whom they justly love and obey, all goes well, and they 
are happy ; but the days have passed when they would 
abide such tyrannies as those of the Stuarts and many 
who went before. This is the drift of history in civil 
governments ; and in ecclesiastical the tide is strongly 
towards the entire separation of church and state. The 
sequel to the history of Presbyterianism in Scotland 
will show this. 

On the accession of William and Mary to the throne, 
and the restoration of Presbyterianism in Scotland, the 
people of that country at once, as a general thing, re- 
turned to their old faith. There is one thing, however, 
which should not fail to be noted : there was no revenge 
taken upon their persecutors by those who had endured 
12 



142 THE people's histoky 

so many and so great cruelties. Let this be mentioned 
to their everlasting honor. 

" Patronage" was the next great question that stirred 
the Church of Scotland. The custom of wealthy or 
noble laymen having the power of nominating pastors 
originated in the early ages, probably in cases where 
benevolent persons built or endowed churches, this 
seeming to give them a sort of claim to their manage- 
ment. It prevailed over a large part of the church of 
Europe in early times. When the Reformation was in- 
troduced into Scotland this custom generally remained, 
in some cases the result being that the patron of a 
Protestant church was a Roman Catholic. It is easy 
to see that this could but produce serious complica- 
tions, because it was destructive to the spiritual inde- 
pendence of the church. The patronage sometimes be- 
longed to a tract of land, and sometimes to a person, 
and descended from father to son. In the former case, 
whoever held the property possessed the right of pa- 
tronage. It was abolished in Scotland in 1649, but re- 
established in 1660. After the Revolution it was again 
abolished, in 1690, a pecuniary compensation being 
voted to the patrons. Under Queen Anne, in 1712, it 
was suddenly restored, and the patrons did not pay 
back the compensation they had received in 1690. The 
opposition to patronage had continued to grow, and 
now became intensified. In 1707 the complete union 
of the two countries was consummated, and the Scot- 
tish parliament adjourned to meet no more. But one 
of the declarations upon which this union was based 
was an act establishing the Church of Scotland in the 
enjoyment of its rights and privileges. It was stipu- 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 143 

lated tliat the Confession of Faith and Presbyterian 
church government should "continue without any 
alteration to the people of this land in all succeeding 
generations;" also "that this ACT OF security, with the 
establishment therein contained, shall be held and ob- 
served in all time coming as a fundamental and essen- 
tial condition of any treaty of union to be concluded 
betwixt the two kingdoms, without any alteration 

THEREOF, OR DEROGATION THERETO, IN ANY SORT FOREVER." 

From this time forward there was, at various times, 
more or less trouble growing out of the imperfectly de- 
veloped spiritual independence of the church. The 
fundamental principles of its existence led it to feel re- 
sponsible only to Christ as its Head, but its entangle- 
ment with the civil power caused much friction. The 
patronage act was gradually accepted, and, in 1731, the 
right was given "to heritors and elders" by the General 
Assembly "to elect and call" pastors to churches. This 
was made law without consulting the Presbyteries, and 
it caused the first great secession from the Church of 
Scotland. Great crises bring great men. The great 
man of this occasion was Ebenezer Erskine. He de- 
nounced the action of the Assembly in sermons preached 
at Perth and Stirling, and was rebuked for it by the 
Synod. On his appealing to the General Assembly the 
rebuke was approved. He and three others were tem- 
porarily deposed; so, on the 6th of December, 1733, 
they organized the "Associate Presbytery." In 1737 
they largely increased in numbers, and published their 
" Declaration and Testimony." They were finally de- 
posed on May 15, 1740, and became the "Secession 
Church." Their ground of objection was not patronage 



144 the people's history 

alone, but also to certain doctrinal tendencies of a seri- 
ous nature in the church at that time. By 1747 the 
Secession Church had increased to forty-five congrega- 
tions. But at that date an unhappy controversy oc- 
curred about the lawfulness of taking the oath adminis- 
tered to burgesses in the larger cities, which was by 
some understood as binding those who took it to sup- 
port the Established Church, but by others as meaning 
only the Protestant religion. Thus arose the two sects 
of "Burghers" and the General Associate Synod, other- 
wise called the " Anti-burghers." In the course of time, 
however, they were reunited, and formed the "United 
Secession Church." 

Another historical thread must now be taken up, be- 
cause the body to which it relates was in the course of 
affairs to be united with the one just mentioned, and 
they together were to form one of the three great Pres- 
byterian denominations of Scotland. The "Belief 
Church" also sprang out of opposition to "patronage." 
In 1752 Thomas Gillespie, minister of Carnock, was de- 
posed for refusing to take part in the installation of a 
minister whom it was determined to thrust upon the 
parish of Inverkeithing against the wishes of the peo- 
ple. Gillespie meekly submitted, but, repairing to Dum- 
fermline, gathered a congregation not connected with 
any denomination. He was afterwards joined by other 
ministers, and the " Belief Church " was organized ; so 
named because furnishing relief to congregations op- 
pressed by "patronage." This body and the "United 
Secession Church " prospered, and, being in sympathy 
on the great question which gave them both existence, 
a union was effected in 1847, with great enthusiasm. 



OF PKESBYTERIANISM. 145 

The united body was called the " United Presbyterian 
Church of Scotland," and is now one of the powerful 
sisterhood of Presbyterian churches in that country. 
The great principle of the "U. P. Church," as it 
is familiarly termed, as distinguishing it from other 
Presbyterian bodies in Scotland is the entire inde- 
pendence of the church of God of all state control or 
support. It has been a mighty agency for develop- 
ing and establishing this great truth in the conscious- 
ness of the church at large. As this history progresses 
it will be seen that this principle has steadily advanced 
up to the present time, not only in Great Britain and 
on the continent of Europe, but also in other parts of 
the world. 

The Free Church, another of the great Presbyterian 
bodies of Scotland, came into existence in May, 1843, 
under circumstances of the greatest interest and solem- 
nity. At that time four hundred and seventy ministers 
withdrew from the Established Church, and became a 
separate organization. This secession grew out of the 
same fruitful source of controversy from which nearly 
all similar movements in Scotland before had arisen — 
the union of church and state, and the refusal to allow 
the people of a congregation to select their oavu minister. 
What were called " forced settlements," or settlements of 
pastors by the " patrons " against the wishes of a church, 
were not uncommon, but had become odious, and 
threatened the doctrinal purity of some congregations. 
In 1834, under the guidance of Thomas Chalmers, the 
man of the crisis, the General Assembly passed a " veto 
act," which provided that, if a majority of the male 
heads of families, being communicants, objected to the 



146 the people's histoey 

person nominated by the " lay patron," the Presbytery 
should decline to install him. Lord Kinnoull, patron 
of the church at Auchterarder, who had presented Mr. 
Robert Young to that parish, only to be rejected almost 
unanimously by the people, felt aggrieved by this act 
of the Assembly, and went to the civil courts to insist 
upon his " patrimonial rights." The civil courts decided 
in favor of Lord Kinnoull, and that the Presbytery had 
no power to refuse to induct Mr. Young into the parish. 
There was a deal of troublesome litigation over the 
matter, but though appeals were made to the govern- 
ment no relief was gained. The courts and the parlia- 
ment refused to accede to the demands of the General 
Assembly for the spiritual independence of the Church 
of Scotland. There was nothing left but to separate 
themselves from the state. So, in 1843, Dr. Welsh, 
moderator of the Assembly, laid upon the table, in pre- 
sence of the queen's commissioner, a " protest," setting 
forth the wrongs of the church, and declaring the inten- 
tion of its signers to secede and organize the "Free 
Church of Scotland." It was in St. Andrew's Church, 
Edinburgh, that this "disruption" occurred. As soon 
as the "protest" was read, the moderator arose and left 
the church, followed by a large number of members, in- 
cluding such men as Chalmers, Guthrie, Cunningham, 
Duff, Candlish, and others, and proceeded to consti- 
tute, in another place, a Free Assembly. The moral 
grandeur of this scene is apparent in the fact that these 
men gave up all their worldly support — every church- 
building, manse, glebe, and stipend (salary) — that they 
might maintain the spiritual independence of the church 
and her allegiance to her Divine Head, going out with 



OF PRESBYTEKIANISM. 147 

nothing but their faith and the promises of God. Such 
a movement for such a cause, and by such men, could 
not fail to make an impression, and Scotland was shaken 
to its centre ; indeed, its influence was felt all over the 
civilized world. All the foreign missionaries of the 
Church of Scotland joined the movement, and a small 
proportion of the landed gentry ; but from the middle 
classes of the people there came a mighty response, 
which has continued to the present day, so that the 
number of congregations of the Free Church, which at 
first was four hundred and seventy, now exceeds a 
thousand, and they have become one of the great agents 
in the Church of Christ for the establishment of the 
spiritual kingdom in Scotland and throughout the earth. 

Thus Presbyterianism in Scotland became divided 
into three branches, all holding the Westminster Con- 
fession, but differing on the relations of the church to 
the state. " The Church of Scotland " is the established, 
state church ; the other two are the United Presbyte- 
rian and the "Free Church of Scotland." Nearly all 
the population is included in these three churches, and 
though the controversies between the two latter and the 
former have been sometimes sharp, or even bitter, they 
have undoubtedly acted as a stimulus to each other's 
zeal and orthodoxy. The old animosities which arose 
out of the controversies in which frhe United Presbyte- 
rian and Free Churches were born are gradually pass- 
ing away, and being replaced by a spirit of generous 
rivalry in building up the kingdom of Christ and of re- 
ciprocal respect. 

The question may be asked, Why did not the United 
Presbyterian and the Free Churches unite in one organic 



148 the people's history 

zation, as they were both opposed to state control, and 
held alike to the Westminster Confession ? The answer 
is that, although they both held that the church should 
be free from the authority of the state, yet they differed 
as to the matter of support, the Free Church men claim- 
ing that it is the duty of the state to support the church 
while not controlling it, and the United Presbyterians 
that the state should have nothing to do with the 
church, either in exercising authority or providing sup- 
port. It is illogical to expect any civil government or 
person to support an institution over which it has no 
control, and though the Free Church started out with a 
different view, it has gradually come to hold, by a large 
majority, the more logical and scriptural principle of 
entire separation between church and state. The world 
was not made in a day, and great principles are not 
always carried to their logical results at once by large 
bodies of people. The Free Church, under the leader- 
ship of Thomas Chalmers and others, laid down the 
principle, and staked their all upon it, that the kingdom 
of God is free from the control of civil governments in 
the management of its own spiritual affairs ; and though 
they also held what seems to us inconsistent with this, 
viz., that the state should support the church, yet the 
silent logic of time was going to bring them into har- 
mony with their essential principle, and cause them to 
reject all that was contrary to it. God leads his church 
onward and upward in her education under the Holy 
Spirit's direction. "He shall glorify me," said our 
Lord, "for he shall take of mine and shall show it unto 
you." 

It is an interesting fact that the Old Kirk, or Estab- 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 149 

lished Church of Scotland, now practices just what 
Chalmers and his coadjutors contended for — the right 
of the people to reject ministers offered as their pastors, 
while it is still connected with and supported by the 
state. But the Free Church has gone further, and now 
demands, almost annually, that the " Church of Scot- 
land" be disestablished. The Free and United Pres- 
byterian Churches now stand on substantially the same 
ground. Some years ago a union of the two was nearly 
consummated, and though it failed for the time, it 
seems probable that it may at length be effected. 

Thus the great principle of the spiritual independence 
of the Church of Christ has been developed and estab- 
lished in Scotland, and its influence has been very great 
in securing the same in other parts of the world. 
Whether the Church of Scotland, the " Old Kirk," will 
follow the same logic to its end, and at last become free 
from all state connection, is a question which the future 
will decide. There can be no denying that the drift of 
opinion is in favor of the separation of church and state 
in nearly all parts of Protestant Christendom. 



CHAPTEK XVIII. 

Presbyterianism in England. 

IT has already been shown that in several countries 
the Christianity of the early times was never en- 
tirely subverted or destroyed. This may be most 
strongly stated of Bohemia, the Alpine fastnesses of 
Europe, and the western islands of Scotland. When 
the Eeformation came in the sixteenth century, the em- 
bers of the unextinguished fires of apostolic religion in 
those regions burst into flame. It is a very significant 
fact that in these cases the Eeformation took the form 
of Presbyterianism. The religion of the Waldensian, 
the Bohemian, and the Scotch Protestants was strongly 
of the Presbyterian type. Is it going too far to claim 
that in this may be discovered a connection between 
Presbyterianism and the church of apostolic times ? It 
is not an unwarrantable assumption, and, in connec- 
tion with the New Testament history itself, is strongly 
corroborative proof of the divine endorsement of our 
system. 

We are now turning to England, a country with a 
different history. Though the Culdees operated in 
England for a time, they did not maintain a permanent 
position there, but were driven back to Scotland and 
the western isles whence they came. There was per- 
haps not a trace of them, and very little of their work 
150 



the.people's history of presbyterianism. 151 

left behind after a brief period of Roman Catholic su- 
premacy. England has never been a very favorable 
Held for Presbyterianism, though the greatest elabora- 
tion of Presbyterianism as a doctrine and a government 
was made in Westminster Abbey, London, and though 
many noble men of that faith have adorned its religious 
history. Wickliffe, the " Morning Star of the Reforma- 
tion," who lived and labored two hundred years before 
Luther, Calvin, and Knox, finished his course in 1384. 
He made the first complete translation of the Scriptures 
into the popular tongue of the British, and thus not 
only gave the people the Word of God, but by this and 
other writings performed a marvellous work in unifying 
and purifying the English language. Wickliffe' s Bible 
sowed the seeds of truth which bore such gracious har- 
vests in England, Scotland, and other countries in sub- 
sequent times. His labors for the propagation of the 
gospel, and his courage in prosecuting them, brought 
down upon him the wrath of the Roman hierarchy, and 
he was bitterly persecuted; but God mercifully de- 
fended him from his enemies, and he was not put to 
death, but died at last from paralysis. Thirty-one 
years after his decease, the Council of Constance, the 
same which burnt John Huss, condemned Wickliffe's 
writings to be burned, and his body to be taken up and 
removed from the "consecrated ground" of an English 
churchyard where it was reposing. This order was 
not carried out until thirteen years afterwards, when, 
hj command of Pope Martin V., the senseless and futile 
sentence was executed, aud his bones were burned, the 
ashes being thrown into the Swift, a branch of the Avon. 
The reason Wickliffe is mentioned in this connection 



152 



THE PEOPLE S HISTORY 



is because, though not a fully developed Presbyterian,, 
he held some of the fundamental principles of our 
church, and would probably have carried them out in 
a logical and complete system if circumstances had per- 
mitted. If he had not been withheld by the strong 
hand of civil and ecclesiastical tyranny, and surrounded 
by the crystallized superstitions of a nation not ready 
for religious revolution, he would probably have made 
England what Knox made Scotland two hundred years 
afterwards. The followers of Wickliffe were called 
"Lollards," a name introduced from Germany. They 
contended against the flagrant errors of the church, 
and, in consequence, were cruelly oppressed. Their 
influence never died out altogether in England, nor iu 
the southwest of Scotland, whither they also penetrated, 
but when opportunity came with the Reformation the 
old spirit showed itself, taking on at that time a more 
definite and systematic character. 

A strong Presbyterian tendency was manifested among 
certain of the English Reformers of the sixteenth cen- 
tury. Men like Cranmer, Hooper, Latimer, and John 
Knox, would have reconstructed the church after the 
model of Geneva, or rather the doctrines and govern- 
ment of the New Testament, but for the change of senti- 
ment in the court caused by the death of Edward VI., 
and the accession to power first of Mary, and then of 
Elizabeth. Mary was a bitter Papist, but her reign was 
mercifully short, only five years. Elizabeth, though a 
Protestant, was nothing of a Presbyterian, and main- 
tained with indomitable will the prelatical system, and the 
supremacy of the sovereign over the church. Puritan- 
ism, afterwards so famous and beneficent in history „ 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 153 

was the form which the opposition to this policy as- 
sumed. Puritanism was intensely Calvinistic, and also 
leaned towards Presbyterian government. After it be- 
came evident that the Church of England could not be 
modified, Presbyterianism in an organized form was 
established. The first Presbytery met at Wandsworth, 
November 20, 1572, the same year in which died in 
Scotland John Knox, who had been foremost among 
those who prepared the way for this movement during 
the reign of " good King Edward." Thomas Cartwright 
and Walter Travers were the two leading men of that 
infant church. Presbyterianism grew outside the na- 
tional church, and Puritanism within it, but by the time 
of Charles I. and Laud, Puritanism had itself become 
chiefly Presbyterian, and when the " Long Parliament " 
abolished Prelacy, Presbyterianism was established in 
England, as the religion of the nation, on June 29th, 
1647, during the sessions of the famous Westminster 
Assembly. A splendid name shines among the divines 
of English Presbyterians of those early days, that of 
Richard Baxter, author of "The Saint's Everlasting 
Best," and the "Call to the Unconverted," as well as 
other useful works. "When he died Non-conformist 
England mourned her chief, and Episcopal England 
one of her saints." 

For twenty years Presbyterianism was the national 
church, though never so fully developed and estab- 
lished as in Scotland. But after the restoration of the 
monarchy it was overturned, and in 1662 two thousand 
ministers were driven from their churches. Until 1688, 
or during the memorable twenty-eight years of struggle 
in Scotland, Presbyterianism was under the ban. It 
i3 



154 THE people's history of peesbyterianism. 

did not, however, exhibit that sturdy power of endur- 
ance so strikingly manifested in the northern kingdom. 
It remained passive, and at the end of this period had 
become practically independent in its administration. 
After the dissipation of the Presbyterian principle of 
government in the church, another worse thing hap- 
pened, and one not disconnected logically from the 
first. It was the decay of sound doctrine. There is a 
far more intimate connection between government and 
doctrine than at first appears, and history shows that 
the strongest instrumental agency for the preservation 
of the gospel is the maintenance of a scriptural church 
government. During the eighteenth century, which was 
a time of general infidelity in Europe and America, a 
spirit of indifference and rationalism came over the 
church, and at length it became largely permeated with 
Unitarianism. 

During the latter part of the nineteenth century, there 
has been a revival of English Presbyterianism of the old 
Calvinistic type. Among some congregations the his- 
toric faith had been adhered to, which was cultivated 
and extended by ministers imported from Scotland. 
Those who had belonged to the United Presbyterian 
Church of Scotland, and also those who, after the "Dis- 
ruption" in Scotland in 1843, formed one independent 
Synod, united in 1876 in a body of no mean dimensions, 
taking the name of the "Presbyterian Church of Eng- 
land." From that time there has been a strong growth 
throughout the kingdom, and now the church is recog- 
nized as a power in the religious life of the nation. 



CHAPTEE XIX. 

Peesbyteeianism in Wales. 

IT will surprise many who have not made a study of 
such matters to learn that there is a great and in- 
fluential body of Presbyterians in Wales. They call 
themselves "the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church." 
A branch in the United States is named " the Welsh 
Presbyterian Church." The name Methodist does not 
indicate that they are not Presbyterian. The Welsh 
Calvinistic Methodist Church is a member of the "Al- 
liance of Reformed churches throughout the world 
holding the Presbyterian system." 

The history of the origin and progress of this church 
is most remarkable. There had been considerable pre- 
paratory work done from 1716 by certain evangelical 
preachers of the Established Church, one of whom was 
Rev. Griffith JoneSj called the "morning star of the 
Methodist Revival." The Welsh Methodist Revival, 
properly so called, began in 173 5-' 36 in the efforts of 
Howell Harris, Daniel Rowlands and Howell Davies, 
Davies being a pupil and convert of Griffith Jones. 
Their work was within the Established Church, though 
they were sorely persecuted by that body. The first 
church organization of the Welsh Calvinistic Meth- 
odists was effected in 1736. Within three years thirty 
congregations were established in South Wales. Their 
J 55 



156 the people's histoey 

first General Association was held at Watford, Glamor- 
ganshire, January 5, 1742, two years and a half prior 
to the first conference of English Methodists, or Wes- 
leyans (Arminian), convened by Wesley in London. 
The Welsh Calvinistic Methodists partook of the same 
great revival spirit as that which animated the Metho- 
dists of England under the Wesleys, but differed from 
them in doctrine and polity, the Welsh being Calvinis- 
tic and Presbyterian, and the English being Arminian 
and Episcopal. The differences in doctrinal belief be- 
tween the Wesleys and Whitfield are well known, and 
George Whitfield, one of the most wonderful preachers 
of his own or any other age, was the moderator of the 
first General Association of the Welsh Calvinists. This 
church has done a wonderful work in the Principality 
of Wales, and is altogether the strongest agency, in that 
interesting country, for the propagation of the gospel. 
In 1813 the "Home Mission Society" was organized, 
to operate principally in parts of England bordering on 
Wales. In 1823 a Confession of Faith was adopted. 
A theological seminary was founded in 1839 at Bala, 
and in 1842 another at Trevecca. Until 1840 the For- 
eign Missionary work was carried on through the Lon- 
don Foreign Missionary Society, but since that time 
the church has maintained missions of its own in vari- 
ous parts of the foreign field. The denomination at- 
tained its complete development in 1864, when it or- 
ganized a General Assembly at Swansea. It is com- 
posed of two Synods and twenty-five Presbyteries. No 
liturgy is used, but the services are in the simplest 
form, and usually in the Welsh language. 

Stevens, in his "History of Methodism," gives a 



OF PEESBYTEEIANISM. 157 

graphic description of the work of the "Welsh Calvinis- 
tic Methodists, showing their "extraordinary religions 
progress, by which the thirty dissenting chnrches of 
1715 have increased (in 1857) to 2,300, by which a 
chapel (church) now dots nearly every three square 
miles of the country, and over a million people, nearly 
the whole Welsh population (seven-eighths), are found 
attending public worship some part of every Sabbath." 

Ikish Peesbyteeianism. 

In the earlier pages of this history an account was 
given of the Culdees, or ancient Presbyterians, whose 
base of operations was the little island of Iona, off the 
west coast of Scotland, and how they sent missionaries 
to many portions of the continent of Europe, as well as 
Great Britain. The founder of the community of Iona, 
which did so much for Scotland, was Columba, an 
Irishman, and one of the earliest preachers of religion 
in Ireland was St. Patrick, a Scotchman. It is thus 
seen that from the beginning there was an intimate 
connection between the religion of Caledonia and 
that of Hibernia. 

The church of St. Patrick accomplished great good 
for the moral and intellectual condition of the Irish, 
and its influence was long felt in the country. The 
Irish church of the seventh and eighth centuries was 
distinguished for its seats of learning and its mission- 
ary zeal; and the literature of Ireland was at that 
period two hundred years in advance of that of most 
nations of northern Europe. It has been characteristic 
of Ireland for many generations that the extremes of 
human life have been strikingly exhibited among its 
people. Among the Irish have usually been found 



158 the people's history 

many of the highest and many of the lowest, the most 
learned and the most ignorant, the richest and the 
poorest. Among some classes, and in certain portions 
of the Island, are now as prosperous communities as 
may be found on earth, communities composed of cul- 
tivated, thrifty christian people, enjoying the blessings 
of industry and virtue, while in others may be seen 
degradation, superstition and want. The Protestant 
communities of Ireland are of the former kind. The 
province of Ulster in the north, including such cities as 
Londonderry and Belfast, is largely Protestant and 
Presbyterian. Of the Presbyterians in Ireland, the 
greater number reside in Ulster, though there are strong 
congregations of that faith in other quarters. 

The first Presbyterian minister who appeared in Ire- 
land after the Reformation began in Europe was Walter 
Travers, in 1594. He was the first regular provost of 
Trinity College, Dublin, an institution which now stands 
among the foremost seats of learning in the world. 
Owing to the troubled condition of the country, he did 
not remain long in this position. During the reign of 
James I. in Great Britain, a few Scottish ministers were 
driven by persecution to take refuge in Ulster. One 
of these was Edward Brice, who had a charge near 
Carrickfergus, in County Antrim. About the same 
time a number of Scotchmen obtained bishopricks in 
Ulster, but being of Presbyterian training they did not 
exact conformity to the Episcopal ritual from the Scot- 
tish ministers who had settled around them. When 
the tyrannical Wentworth was placed at the head of 
the government in Ireland all this was changed, and 
strict conformity required of every one. All the Pres- 
byterian ministers were exiled in a short time. 



Or PRESBYTERIANISM. 159 

In 1642 a Scottish army was sent to Ireland to sub- 
due a rebellion which had been organized against the 
government. They brought chaplains with them, who 
not only preached to the soldiers, but also gathered 
into congregations the scattered Presbyterians already 
on the ground. Many of these people had come, along 
with others from Great Britain, about thirty years be- 
fore to establish what was called " The Plantation " in Ul- 
ster, a sort of colony. The immigration now increased 
rapidly, and at the restoration of the monarchy, in 1660, 
there were one hundred Presbyterian congregations in 
Ulster, representing a population of 100,000. During 
the period which followed the accession of Charles II. 
in England, to the Kevolution, under William III., those 
ever-memorable twenty-eight years, when the Cove- 
nanters endured so much in Scotland, the Ulster Pres- 
byterians were also cruelly treated. They were forbid- 
den to exercise their religion in any public manner, a 
fine of one hundred pounds being inflicted upon any 
dissenting minister who dared to celebrate the Lord's 
Supper. They were obliged to meet for worship in the 
greatest secrecy, and were often interrupted by the of- 
ficers of the law, and their ministers cast into prison. 
Peace returned with the change of government in Eng- 
land, in 1688. 

King James II., after his ignominious flight from 
London, established himself in Ireland. At this period 
occurred the famous siege of Londonderry, a Protestant 
town in the extreme north. The arrest of the army of 
James II. at this point, was of the utmost importance to 
the three kingdoms. The siege lasted one hundred and 
five days, and all supplies having been cut off by the 



160 the people's histoky 

besieging army, the determined garrison were reduced 
to the necessity of eating rats, and gnawing shoe-leather. 
The siege was raised at last by the arrival of three Eng- 
lish ships with supplies, after which the army of James 
retired. But his cause was doomed. William III. 
landed at Carrickfergus, stepping from his vessel upon 
a large stone which is still shown to visitors at the land- 
ing place in front of the castle, and soon afterwards 
gained a signal victory at the famous battle of the 
Boyne. This was in 1690; the next year, by another 
victory at Aughrim, the defeat of James was rendered 
complete, and a treaty of peace was concluded. 

During the eighteenth century the Presbyterian 
Church of Ireland experienced something of the same 
decadence of doctrinal purity and spirituality which 
characterized the religious life of England and the con- 
tinent during that period. There was a general de- 
parture from the old paths of conservative orthodoxy. 
In 1727 the Presbyterian Church was weakened in 
numbers by the secession of those who were so tinctured 
with Unitarianism as to be unable to subscribe to the 
Westminster standards. The seceders organized them- 
selves into what was called "The Presbytery of An- 
trim." They received small support from the mass of 
the people, but those who remained in the Synod of 
Ulster showed no great zeal for the truths which they 
professed. Meanwhile, however, the Scotch who set- 
tled in Ireland were doing a great deal to maintain 
sound doctrine in the province of Ulster. Sixty years 
after they established their first congregation they num- 
bered ninety ministers. In 1750 their first Presbytery 
was constituted. 



OF PKESBYTERIANISM. 161 

In 1761 Matthew Lynd, tlie first Irish covenanting 
minister, was ordained. The Covenanters, or Re- 
formed Presbyterians, made steady progress from that 
date, and in 1792 organized their first Presbytery. 

The Synod of Ulster, under the leadership of Henry 
Cooke, freed itself at last from the blight of Unitarian- 
ism, and, in 1829, the Unitarians were separated from 
the body. From that event began the revival of spirit- 
ual life, which caused a rapid increase in the numbers 
and power of the church, and has not ceased to this 
clay. In 1835 the Synod of Ulster adopted an overture 
requiring all its ministers to subscribe to the Westmin- 
ster Confession of Faith. This act removed the ground 
of difference between itself and the Secession Synod, 
and they were united, in 1840, in a body called " The 
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ire- 
land." It had then 433 congregations, but has in- 
creased rapidly, so that now it has under its care fully 
half a million adherents. This fact is all the more sig- 
nificant in view of the constant drain of population 
from which it has suffered by emigration to the British 
colonies and the United States. 

In 1869 an act of parliament was passed, disestab- 
tablishing and disendowing the Episcopal Church oi 
Ireland, which leaves the people free to work cut their 
religious convictions without interference by the state. 
It is not probable that in the whole Presbyterian sister- 
hood throughout the world there is a purer, more evan- 
gelical, or more vigorous body than the Presbyterian 
Church of Ireland. American Presbyterianism is in- 
debted to it for many of its best members and noblest 
ministers of the "Word. 



CHAPTEE XX. 

Peesbyteeianism in the Ends of the Eaeth. 

THE extension of Presbyterianism throughout the 
world has been largely accomplished through the 
instrumentality of the magnificent colonial system of 
Great Britain. The British Empire extends to all cli- 
mates, and many races of men, speaking different lan- 
guages, live under its sway. In most cases this rule 
has been beneficial, resulting in the establishment of 
stable governments where before was a condition little 
better than anarchy or despotism, and by bringing the 
various peoples into commercial connection with civili- 
zation. Another benefit has been in the settlement of 
sturdy colonies of English, Scotch, Irish and Welsh, in 
nearly all of the dependencies. No more enterprising 
or courageous nation has ever existed, and they have 
established in many countries colonies which have be- 
come centres of civilizing influence. 

The laws, customs, language and religion of an Anglo- 
Saxon civilization, have thus been carried to many 
lands, bringing blessings with them. There should be 
no jealousy between Great Britain and the United 
States. The latter, first established as a colony of 
England, and which, in the providence of God, became 
a separate nation, started out with the laws and cus- 
toms of the mother country, modified to suit the new 
162 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF PRESBYTEEIANISM. 163 

circumstances. Though there were many things firmly 
imbedded in the institutions of the English which were 
wisely left east of the Atlantic, yet the marvellous de- 
velopment of national life in America has been but the 
outgrowth, in a new world, of certain principles and 
tendencies which had been ripening in England for 
hundreds of years. For obvious reasons the progress 
of principles is more rapid in new countries. Though 
Great Britain is an empire, and the United States a re- 
public, there is a wonderful harmony in the national 
tendencies of the two peoples. Indeed there is a grow- 
ing feeling of friendship between England and America, 
as there should be, and it is coming to be understood 
that the English-speaking race is one, with a great mis- 
sion to accomplish in the world. 

The various religious denominations of Great Britain, 
with their fully developed systems of doctrine and 
government, have been planted in the colonies. Epis- 
copalians, Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians, are 
found in nearly all countries. Cranmer, Wesley, Bun- 
yan and Knox, with what they strove to establish, have 
become the heritage of the world; and their spiritual 
descendants are laboring shoulder to shoulder, if not 
always heart to heart, for the extension of the kingdom 
of Christ. It is not a matter of surprise that so enter- 
prising and brave a people as the Scotch should have 
representatives in all the colonies, and indeed wherever 
civilized man has found a home. They have carried 
their industry, good sense and honesty with them. The 
name of a Scotchman has no mean significance ; for it 
has generally been associated with courage, honesty 
-and thrift. In that wit and wisdom so necessary to 



164 the people's histoky 

success in life, the " canny Scot " is not easily surpassed. 
But wherever he goes, he takes with him the customs 
of his country, which he ever calls " home," and en- 
deavors to have a little Scotland of his own. He car- 
ries his Confession of Faith, Catechism, Bible and 
Psalm-book, and from his dwelling or his kirk, on the 
banks of the Ganges, the St. Lawrence, or in the islands 
of the southern Pacific, his simple praise ascends to 
heaven in words and music born in the land of the blue 
bells and heather. 

This is the reason why Presbyterianism in all Eng- 
lish-speaking countries is of the British type, rather 
than the Continental, and why the Westminster stand- 
ards are held without important alterations, except in 
the matter of the relations of the church to the state, 
in nearly all their churches. 

Austealia came into the hands of the British about 
the time the colonies, which afterwards became the 
American Union, were separating themselves from the 
mother country. This magnificent possession, a conti- 
nent nearly as large as the whole of Europe, is furnished 
with marvellous natural resources. The settlements are 
mainly along the seaboard, and it was not until 1860, 
when a reward of ten thousand pounds was offered by 
the government to any one who would traverse this vast 
island, that much was known of the interior. 

There are handsome and beautiful cities in the sev- 
eral provinces, among which are Sydney, Melbourne^ 
and Adelaide, and the general aspect of the country 
gives the impression of prosperity and thrift. 

Australia is divided into provinces, and the Presby- 
terian Church of the country into several independent 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 165 

bodies, though movements are in progress which will 
probably result in their unification. In the province of 
Victoria there is a Presbyterian population of 130,000. 
Their first minister was Mr. Clow, in 1836, a retired 
army-chaplain ; and he was followed, after two years, by 
Mr. Forbes, who was sent out by the Church of Scot- 
land. There is now a General Assembly, with subor- 
dinate courts, carrying on a successful home and for- 
eign work. In New South Wales, Eastern Australia, 
Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, and New Zea- 
land, there are active and useful Presbyterian bodies. 
When the Presbyterianism of all Australasia shall have 
been united, the result will be a great and influential 
church. 

In South Africa there are large bodies of Presbyte- 
rians divided among Cape Colony, Orange Free State, 
Natal, and the South African Eepublic. The prevail- 
ing organization is the Dutch Reformed, which was es- 
tablished with the colony, in 1652. Many Huguenots, 
flying from France after the revocation of the edict of 
Nantes, made their homes with the Dutch, and strength- 
ened their hands in the work of the gospel. They were 
also joined by large numbers of English and Scotch 
Presbyterians. 

In Ceylon, the West Indies, and South America, 
there are also colonial churches. It would be impos- 
sible, within the limits of such a volume as this, to give 
even a brief sketch of every branch of the Presbyterian 
family, nor would it be interesting to the general reader 
to trace the origin and history of many small, though 
promising organizations. 

Canada has the largest of all the colonial churches. 
H 



166 THE people's histoey 

This country constitutes one of the brightest jewels in 
the British crown. Its great size may be more easily 
apprehended by an opening sentence in a description 
of Canada, written by a recent visitor from Europe : 
"Travel a thousand miles up a great river; more than 
another thousand over inland seas and lakes ; a thou- 
sand miles across rolling prairies ; and yet another thou- 
sand miles through woods and over three great ranges 
of mountains, and you have travelled from ocean to 
ocean through Canada." The Dominion of Canada is 
divided into nine provinces, each having its separate 
local legislature, and all, except Newfoundland, con- 
federated under one general government, having its seat 
in the city of Ottawa. The population is estimated at 
4,600,000. Of these 1,800,000 are Roman Catholics. 
There are about 680,000 Presbyterians. 

Presbyterianism dates its origin in Canada from 1765, 
when George Henry, a military chaplain, began regular 
ministrations in Quebec. The first Presbyterian con- 
gregation in Montreal was established by Mr. Bethune. 
This congregation worshipped in a Roman Catholic 
church until 1792, when its members erected a building 
of their own. In recognition of the kindness of the 
Recollet Fathers, who had lent them the church, " The 
Society of Presbyterians," as they were called, pre- 
sented the good Fathers with "two hogsheads of Span- 
ish wine and a box of candles," which were "thankfully 
accepted." In 1787 Mr. Bethune removed to Glen- 
gary, in Upper Canada, now in the province of Ontario. 
This place was settled by Scottish Highlanders, and has 
been a stronghold of Presbyterianism ever since. In 
1803 the Presbytery of Montreal was constituted by 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 167 

two ministers and one elder. For many years there 
was little growth of Presbyterianism in Canada. At 
length, however, a tide of British immigration set in, 
bringing large numbers of Presbyterians. The advance 
was now rapid, and in 1831 "the Synod of the Presby- 
terian Church of Canada, in connection with the Church 
of Scotland," was constituted. There were on its roll the 
names of twenty-five ministers. About the same time a 
number of ministers, chiefly of the Associate Church of 
Scotland, organized themselves as "The United Synod 
of Upper Canada." In 1840 this Synod joined the 
Synod in connection with the Church of Scotland, by 
which its numbers increased to eighty-two ministers. 
Another body called " The United Presbyterian Church 
in Canada," descended from the church of the same 
name in the mother country, was organized, and grew 
rapidly, doing an excellent work. When the "Dis- 
ruption " of 1843 occurred in Scotland, it had its echo 
in Canada, and the next year twenty-five ministers 
withdrew from the Synod in connection with the 
Church of Scotland, and set up a separate body, taking 
the name of "The Presbyterian Church of Canada." 
These three churches labored on together for seventeen 
years, when, in 1861, their number was happily reduced 
to two, by a union of the United Presbyterians and 
those last mentioned, who represented the Free Church 
of Scotland. The united body was named " The Canada 
Presbyterian Church," and had two hundred and twenty- 
six ministers at the outset. It prospered greatly, and 
in 1870 a General Assembly was constituted. 

In the eastern or "maritime" provinces two inde- 
pendent bodies had been developing. In New Bruns- 



168 the people's history 

wick, Prince Edward's Island, and Newfoundland, Pres- 
byterianism made early settlements. The first Pres- 
bytery in British North America was formed in 1786, 
with three ministers, Messrs. Smith, Cock, and Graham. 
In 1794 Dr. James McGregor and two other ministers 
organized "the Associate Presbytery of Nova Scotia." 
After twenty -three years these two bodies united, form- 
ing a Synod, and took the name of " The Presbyterian 
Church of Nova Scotia." "The Synod of Nova Scotia, 
New Brunswick, and Prince Edward's Island," in con- 
nection with the Church of Scotland, was constituted in 
1833. The Presbytery of New Brunswick, however, 
declined the union, and assumed the name of "The 
Synod of New Brunswick." In 1868 they were united. 
The Synods of the United Presbyterian and Free 
Churches in the province had already come together in 
1860. Thus the way was prepared for a comprehensive 
union of the Presbyterian Churches of all the provinces, 
east and west. On the 15th day of June, 1875, this 
consummation was realized, when the "Presbyterian 
Church in Canada, in connection with the Church of 
Scotland," the "Canada Presbyterian Church," the 
" Church of the Maritime Provinces in connection with 
the Church of Scotland," and the "Presbyterian Church 
of the Lower Provinces," were all fused into one great 
body called "The Presbyterian Church in Canada," 
representing nearly three-quarters of a million of souls. 
This church is remarkably well equipped with edu- 
cational facilities, having, among other institutions, col- 
leges in Kingston, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec, Hali- 
fax, and Winnipeg. The "Presbyterian Church in 
Canada" is bound to play a most important part in the 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 169 

future history of that highly promising country, in 
which it is by far the most influential Protestant de- 
nomination. It carries on a vast Home Mission work, 
employing two hundred and eighty missionaries. It 
also has an extensive mission ' among the million and a 
quarter French-speaking people of the Dominion, em- 
ploying some eighty-five missionaries, teachers, and 
colporteurs. It also carries on extensive Foreign Mis- 
sion operations among the Northwest Indians ; in For- 
mosa, China; Central India, Trinidad, and the New 
Hebrides. The contributions of this church for mis- 
sions in 1887 were $283,000, and for all church pur- 
poses $1,533,000. 



CHAPTEE XXI. 

Old Pbinciples in a New World. 

THE principles of government under which the peo- 
ple of the United States of America now live were 
not born on July 4, 1776, when the colonies declared 
their independence of Great Britain. Though they 
had never before had so fair a field for development, 
their existence may be traced far back in history. An 
institution is the embodiment of a principle, and the 
principles which animate our institutions, now the. ad- 
miration of the civilized world, have existed from the 
days of Moses. This history has been concerned with 
the progress of the principle of republican government 
in the church, and to a limited extent in the state. It 
has been the inspiration of the noblest struggles in all 
the past, and the belief in its final triumph has been the 
star of hope to most lovers of mankind. We have seen 
hoAv it was fought for by the Waldenses, Culdees, Bo- 
hemians, Hungarians, Swiss, French, Dutch, English, 
German, Irish and Scotch ; we have sympathized with 
the heroes of all these countries in their sufferings ; and 
in their successes our hearts have been thrilled with 
joy. The principle of civil and religious liberty, hav- 
ing contended with tyranny for thousands of years, 
and having even in the midst of its bitterest conflicts 
given the richest blessings to the race, was at length 
170 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTOEY OF PEESBYTEEIANISM. 171 

to have a better field opened for its exercise ; the im- 
prisoned spirit was to be set free in a new world. He 
who guides all history, having made this the dearest 
possession of the human mind, except its hope of 
heaven, and having hallowed it by many a trial and by 
the blood of some of the noblest of earth, opened in the 
fulness of time the Western Hemisphere, and gave it 
to liberty as its peculiar possession. Delivered from 
Eygpt, led across a wide waste, liberty found a prom- 
ised land west of the Atlantic, where three thousand 
miles of sea separated from the religious and civil des- 
potisms which had made the history of a thousand 
years a sickening tale of cruelty and woe. 

Nine years after the birth of Luther, North America 
was discovered, but it was not peopled then. It waited 
two hundred years for its important settlements. Eu- 
rope was not ripe, the time had not come. A few ad- 
venturers explored its shores, bringing home wonderful 
stories of an almost limitless land ; but not until a vast 
body of liberty-loving Protestants had been trained in 
Europe, did that mighty exodus begin which has con- 
tinued to the present, and which has grown to such vast 
proportions. But God sent some of his best people 
first, to lay foundations for the future, and to prepare 
for the millions that were to follow. They were the 
Huguenots, the Dutch, the Puritans, the Scotch, and 
the Scotch-Irish. Was ever a nation founded by such 
noble people ? Educated in human and divine learn- 
ing, purified in the furnace of affliction, made to love 
liberty and truth better than life, riches, and home, they 
were driven away from Europe to occupy North Amer- 
ica. They would not have come willingly ; such people 






172 the people's histoky 

love their country, the graves of their ancestors, and 
would prefer the pursuit of industry and virtue in a 
quiet life. They needed to be torn up by the roots, 
and forced by cruel edicts, and by the sword, to under- 
take the mighty task of building up civilization in a 
wilderness. The oppressive measures which were 
adopted in Great Britain, drove from their homes great 
numbers of the Presbyterians of England, Ireland, and 
Scotland. The revocation of the edict of Nantes in 
France, in 1685, brought death to thousands, and sent 
multitudes into exile. 

A large proportion of the immigrants to America dur- 
ing the latter part of the seventeenth, and the early 
part of the eighteenth centuries, were Calvinistic in 
doctrine and Presbyterian in polity. They came from 
Scotland, England, Ireland, Holland, Germany, and 
France, and they brought their principles with them. 
Perhaps it might better be said that their principles 
brought them. The prevailing religious tone of the 
colonies was Calvinistic. 

The influence of the Presbyterians, in connection with 
other dissenters, in the establishment of the indepen- 
dence of the colonies, can hardly be overestimated. 
Merle D'Aubigne says, " Calvin was the founder of the 
greatest of republics. The Pilgrims who left their coun- 
try in the reign of James I., and, landing on the barren 
soil of New England, founded populous and mighty 
colonies, were his sons, his direct and legitimate sons ; 
and that American nation which we have seen growing 
so rapidly, boasts as its father the humble reformer on 
the shores of Lake Leman." The English, Scotch, and 
Irish Presbyterians who came to America, were not 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 173 

thrust out of their owu country by the Roman Catho- 
lics, but by the Church of England ; or, in the words 
of Bancroft, by "the implacable differences between 
Protestant dissenters and the established Anglican 
Church. ... A young French refugee (John Calvin), 
skilled in theology and civil law, in the duties of mag- 
istrates, and in the dialectics of religious controversy, 
entering the republic of Geneva, and conforming its ec- 
clesiastical discipline to the principles of republican 
simplicity, established a party of which Englishmen be-, 
came members, and New England the asylum." Cas- 
telar, the eloquent Spanish statesman, declares that 
"The Anglo-Saxon democracy is the product of a se- 
vere theology learned by the few Christian fugitives in 
the gloomy cities of Holland and of Switzerland, where 
the morose shade of Calvin still wanders. . . . And it 
remains serenely in its grandeur, forming the most dig- 
nified, most moral, most enlightened, and richest por- 
tion of the human race." So also Bancroft, in another 
place, says : " He that will not honor the memory and 
respect the influence of Calvin, knows but little of the 
origin of American independence. . . . The light of his 
genius shattered the mask of darkness which supersti- 
tion had held for centuries before the brow of religion." 
One of the most important elements in the tide of 
immigration that came to America was the Scotch- 
Irish, or people from Ireland (principally the northern 
part), whose ancestors were Scotch. It need hardly 
be stated that they were Presbyterians, and that of a 
high order. The Scottish blood lost nothing by its 
contact with the Irish, some of which it absorbed, and 
the result was a type of character in which firmness and 



174 the people's history 

wit were blended. Great numbers of Scotch-Irish set- 
tled in New York and Pennsylvania, being particularly nu- 
merous in the latter. From Pennsylvania they gradually 
spread down into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and 
further on into Tennessee, North Carolina and South 
Carolina. They have been characterized everywhere 
by thrift, honesty, and patriotism, and their descendants 
have had a great influence in the social, educational, 
religious, .political and military affairs of the nation. 
They have scattered all over the Union, and are re- 
cognized as an element of stability and conservatism 
in all places where they have made their homes. 

It must not be understood that the Presbyterians and 
others who came to America to escape persecution were 
permitted to exercise their principles without a struggle. 
They were called "Dissenters" in the colonies as well 
as at home, and were oppressively treated by the 
Church of England in America. Wherever that church 
could exert its power the "Dissenters" felt it. In Vir- 
ginia and New York all the people, irrespective of their 
religious convictions, had to pay taxes to support the 
Established Church. In 1707 Francis Makemie, the 
apostle of American Presbyterianism, was imprisoned 
in New York by Lord Cornbury, for being "a strolling 
preacher," and disseminating "pernicious doctrines." 
Though political oppression was the visible cause of 
the rupture with the mother country, the element of 
religious feeling entered largely into the influences 
which made it possible, and Jones' "History of New 
York " states that the occasion of some of the first out- 
breaks against royal authority was the refusal of the 
dissenters to pay the church taxes levied upon them." 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 175 

A natural consequence of this state of tilings was that 
the dissenters should identify in their minds the Estab- 
lished Church with the government of England, and 
that the church itself should support the government 
by which it was supported. Thus it came about that 
the Episcopal clergy sympathized with the crown in the 
great struggle for independence, while the dissenting 
churches, not being sustained by the state, were. in 
favor of the Eevolution, which promised to place all de- 
nominations on an equal footing. Of course there were 
numerous exceptions to this general rule among the 
clergy, and particularly the laity of the Episcopal 
Church, as was the case with George Washington, who 
was a member of that communion. But the leaders of 
the Revolution were generally Congregationalists, Bap- 
tists, Dutch Reformed, or Presbyterians. "The Pres- 
byterians were," Bancroft declares, "the supporters of 
religious freedom in America. ... It was from "Wither- 
spoon, of New Jersey, that Madison imbibed the lesson 
of perfect freedom in matters of conscience." The 
same writer says : " In Virginia the Presbytery of Han- 
over took the lead for liberty, and demanded the abo- 
lition of the Anglican church and the civil equality of 
every denomination." Rev. Samuel Davies, of Han- 
over county, was the champion of religious liberty for 
the Old Dominion, and he, with the Presbytery of Han- 
over, contended for spiritual independence. Opposed 
to them were the Anglican clergy, who defended their 
own, the Established Church. The immortal Patrick 
Henry, whose mother was a member of Mr. Davies' 
church, and who himself attended the ministry of that 
eloquent preacher in his youth, strove with his charac- 



176 the people's history 

teristic vehemence to have all denominations recognized 
and supported by the government. The Presbytery in 
a vigorous protest addressed to the Legislature said: 
" Therefore it is contrary to our principles and interest, 
and as we think subversive of religious liberty, we do 
again most earnestly entreat that our Legislature would 
never extend any assessment for religious purposes to 
us or to the congregations under our care." 

After the War of Independence an attempt was made 
to secure to the Episcopal Church all the property, 
glebe-lands, etc., it had received from the government 
before the Revolution. The scheme seemed about to 
succeed in the Legislature of Yirginia, when the old 
Presbytery of Hanover came again to the front in de- 
fence of religious liberty. So strong was their resist- 
ance that the whole subject was dropped, and this was 
the end of an Established Church in Virginia. The 
other States which had Established Churches soon fol- 
lowed this example, and religion was free at last in the 
New World. May it continue free forever! 

The first Declaration of Independence was made in 
North Carolina, a year before the more famous one 
in Philadelphia, by the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians of 
Mecklenburg county, and consequently called the 
" Mecklenburg Declaration." On May 20, 1775, at the 
city of Charlotte, in a meeting called to consider the in- 
justice of the British government in its treatment of the 
colonies, they adopted a declaration of which the fol- 
lowing is an extract : 

"We do hereby dissolve the political bands which 
have connected us with the mother-country, and hereby 
absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the British 



OP PEESBYTEEIANISM. 177 

Crown." .... "We hereby declare ourselves a free 
and independent people ; are, and of right ought to be, 
a sovereign and self-governing association, under control 
of no power other than that of our God and the general 
government of Congress ; to the maintenance of which 
W9 solemnly pledge to each other our mutual co-opera- 
tiDn and our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred 
honor." 

The men who solemnly adopted these declarations 
were the children of the Covenanters, and were destined, 
in the impending struggle, to prove themselves worthy 
of their noble ancestors. They were twenty-seven in 
number v one-third of whom were Presbyterian elders, 
one was a Presbyterian minister, and all of them were con- 
nected in some way with the Presbyterian Church. The 
chairman of the meeting, William Alexander, and Dr. 
Ephraim Brevard, one of the clerks, were Presbyterian 
elders. The latter presented the declaration, which is 
said to have been drawn up by his brother, Adam Bre- 
vard, who was a lawyer, and who is reported to have 
declared that his principal guide in preparing that 
famous document was the Westminster Confession of 
Faith, which, as then published, contained the Scottish 
Covenants. A copy of the Mecklenburg Declaration was 
sent to Congress, then in session at Philadelphia, and 
it was also published in North Carolina newspapers. 
The next year there w T as a general uprising of the other 
colonies, and, following the example of their brethren 
in the South, they renounced their allegiance to the 
king, and threw down the gauntlet of war. 

The Declaration of Independence, made in Philadel- 
phia the following year, was drawn up by Thomas Jef- 

J 5 



178 the people's histoby 

ferson, and a comparison of the two documents shows 
that, in some matters, he borrowed from the declara- 
tion of the Mecklenburg patriots of the preceding year. 
But at the time when the sturdy Scotch-Irish Presby- 
terians of North Carolina were defying the British gov- 
ernment, and throwing off its authority, many of the 
leading men in other colonies were still clinging to a 
hope for the maintenance of the royal authority under 
a redress of grievances. In August, 1775, Thomas Jef- 
ferson said: "I would rather be in dependence on 
Great Britain, properly limited, than on any nation on 
earth, or than on no nation" Washington said, in May, 
1776: "When I took command of this army (June, 
1775,) I abhorred the idea of independence?" These 
brave men soon gravitated to the point before reached 
by the Mecklenburgers, and demanded independence, 
but the children of the Covenanters were in advance, 
and there is not a doubt but that, as Bancroft writes, 
"the first voice publicly raised in America to dissolve 
all connection with Great Britain came, not from the 
Puritans of New England, nor from the Dutch of New 
York, nor the planters of Virginia, but from the Scotch- 
Irish Presbyterians." 

Among those most prominently associated with the 
cause of liberty in the struggles of the Revolution was 
Dr. John Witherspoon, of New Jersey, the president of 
Princeton College. He was a Scotchman, a Presbyte- 
rian minister, and descendant of John Knox. He was 
a leading member of the provincial congress of New 
Jersey, and afterwards for six years of the Continental 
Congress. His name is among the signers of the De- 
claration of Independence. By his wisdom, courage, 
piety, and patriotism he exercised a marked influence 



OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 179 

in shaping the course of events, and has left a name 
crowned with honor. 

When General Washington was elected to the presi- 
dency, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church addressed to him a letter, expressing their 
gratification thereat, and hopes of his usefulness in this 
office, closing with these words: "We pray Almighty 
God to have you always in his holy keeping. May he 
prolong your valuable life, an ornament and a blessing 
to your country, and at last bestow on you the glorious 
reward of a faithful servant!" 

To this Washington replied in a letter of great 
modesty and courtesy, concluding with the following 
paragraph : " I desire you to accept my acknowledg- 
ments for your laudable endeavors to render men sober, 
honest, and good citizens, and the obedient subjects of 
a lawful government, as w r ell as for your prayers to 
Almighty God for his blessings on our common country 
and the instrument which, he has been pleased to make 
use of in the administration of its government." 

"George Washington." 

The nation set out on its mission, holding the two 
precious treasures of civil and religious republicanism, 
and the churches began their work of teaching men to 
love God and one another. The United States, a free 
country, with free churches, has accomplished marvel- 
lous things up to the present ; this all the world know r s ; 
and what it may yet do, if its citizens are faithful to the 
truth and to the lessons of the past, only God can tell. 

Let us now go back, and trace the origin and pro- 
gress of the Presbyterian Church of the United States, 
which has borne an important part in the history of 
the country. 



chaptee xxrr. 

PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 

THE first bodies of immigrants of the Presbyterian 
order, to those regions now included in the terri- 
tory of the American Union, were Huguenots, sent over 
by Admiral Coligny, in 1562 and 1565. The former 
established themselves in the Carolinas, but the enter- 
prise was soon abandoned. The colonists of 1565 set- 
tled in St. Augustine, Florida, where they hoped to 
have liberty to worship God according to their con- 
sciences. 

But Roman Catholic cruelty followed them, and they 
were massacred by the Spaniards, hardly enough being 
left to tell the tale. It was fitting that a country, con- 
secrated by a baptism of such blood as this, should 
afterwards become an asylum for the oppressed of all 
nations. 

The second attempt to establish a colony of the Re- 
formed or Presbyterian faith was more successful. This 
was a Huguenot movement also. The colony was sent 
from the Netherlands, consisting of thirty families, 
chiefly "Walloons," as the French Huguenots who had 
taken refuge among the Dutch were called. They 
founded, in 1623, the city of New Amsterdam, now New 
York, where French was spoken, and the Huguenot 
faith professed from the outset. Other settlements of 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTOKY OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 181 

Huguenots were afterwards made in Massachusetts, 
Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina. Their num- 
bers, though considerable, were never very great, but 
their influence has been marked in the subsequent his- 
tory of America. From this noble race have come 
many of the foremost men of church and state in the 
republic. 

The first congregation in this country of the Presby- 
terian or Reformed system of doctrine and polity was 
organized in New Amsterdam, in 1628, by Jonas 
Michaelius, of more than fifty communicants, consist- 
ing of Walloons (Huguenots)- and Dutch, and was a 
Dutch Reformed church. This was the origin in America 
of the Reformed Dutch church, which has grown to be one 
of the influential denominations of the land. It has now 
dropped the word " Dutch " from its name, being sim- 
ply called the "Reformed Church in America." In 
proportion to its numbers, it is the wealthiest religious 
body in the United States, and is second to no other 
member of the great Presbyterian or Reformed Confed- 
eration in soundness of doctrine and in evangelical 
tone. In the Reformed Church in America, as in 
Europe, a church session is called a " consistory," a 
Presbytery a "classis," a Synod a "particular Synod," 
and the General Assembly the "General Synod." An 
attempt has been made to effect a union between the 
Reformed Church and the Presbyterian Church, but it 
was not successful, and this honorable body still main- 
tains its independent existence and work. 

The Puritans of England and America were divided 
into two parties, the Presbyterians, and the Indepen- 
dents or Congregationalists. In New England, those 



182 the people's history 

called " Puritans " were generally Presbyterians, but trie 
"Pilgrims" were Congregationalists, though even the 
Pilgrims recognized the office of elder for a long time. 
It came to be restricted to one elder for each congrega- 
tion, and at last was allowed to die out altogether. 
But the " Puritans " of New England never maintained a 
strong Presbyterianism of the Scottish type. The re- 
sult of the contact of the two classes in New England 
was a compromise of Presbyterianism and Indepen- 
dency, which became more and more Congregational 
as the colony progressed. 

The first Puritans from England came to Virginia. 
At Bermuda Hundred Bev. Alexander Whitaker minis- 
tered to a church as early as 1614. The Puritan ele- 
ment increased considerably up to 1642, when the Gov- 
ernor, Sir William Berkeley, appointed by the crown, 
began a course of persecution of all dissenters from the 
Church of England, which broke up the Puritan con- 
gregations. Many of them took refuge on the shores 
of Maryland, near the site of the present city of Annap- 
olis. But they were not welcomed in Maryland, and 
attempts were made by the officials of Lord Baltimore 
to prevent their effecting a permanent settlement. They, 
however, maintained their hold. Whether churches 
were formally organized or not, cannot be determined, 
but they were served by Presbyterian ministers, among 
whom were Francis Doughty (1658), and Matthew Hill 
(1667). When William Traill, moderator of the Pres- 
bytery of Laggan, Ireland, fled to America for refuge 
from persecution, he also came to Maryland in 1682. 

There were settlements of Presbyterians in Long 
Island, at a very early date. At Hempstead, Richard 



OF PEESBYTEEIANISM. 183 

Denton ministered to a congregation from 1644 to 1659. 
A church was established at Jamaica, Long Island, 
about the middle of the seventeenth century. At 
Southold a congregation was organized in 1640, which 
is now under the care of the General Assembly, though 
it did not become connected with organized Presbyte- 
rianism until the early part of the eighteenth century. 

In New Jersey, Presbyterian churches were founded 
at Newark (1667), Elizabeth (1668), Woodbridge and 
Pairfield (1680). 

The first Presbyterian church, bearing the Presby- 
terian name, in New York city, was formed in 1717, 
and was partly supported, for a time, by contributions 
sent from Scotland. 

In Maryland churches were organized at Snow Hill 
and Kehoboth in 1684 by Francis Makemie. He was 
sent out from the north of Ireland to gather together the 
scattered Presbyterians in America. Makemie was 
eminently qualified for his work, a truly remarkable 
man, who may be called the founder of organized Pres- 
byterianism in America. He was born of Scottish an- 
cestry, near Rathmelton, County Donegal, Ireland. 
The exact date of his birth is unknown. He was or- 
dained by the Presbytery of Laggan as a missionary to 
America. His mission to the Western World was in 
consequence of a request for a minister sent over to 
Ireland by Colonel Stephens, of Maryland. Makemie 
married a lady belonging to a wealthy Virginia family. 
Evidence has been adduced to show that before the or- 
ganization at Snow Hill, by Makemie, there was a 
Presbyterian church in Virginia on the Elizabeth river, 
near the present site of the city of Norfolk, a congrega- 



184 the people's history 

tion of which the present First Presbyterian Church of 
Norfolk may be considered the descendant. The his- 
torical testimony for this is found in Sprague's Annals, 
Vol. iii, p. 6, in a letter by Makemie himself. He writes 
in 1684: "In my visit to Elizabeth river, in May, I 
found a poor, desolate people, mourning the loss of 
their dissenting minister from Ireland, whom the Lord 
had been pleased to remove by death the summer be- 
fore." 

Francis Makemie was indefatigable in his labors, 
going from place to place preaching and organizing 
churches. His great want was pastors for the congre- 
gations. He corresponded with the mother country, 
and even visited Great Britain, as well as New England, 
to secure assistants. His imprisonment in New York 
for nearly two months for being a "Dissenter" has 
already been mentioned ; and though he was acquitted 
by the jury which tried him, he had to pay over three 
hundred dollars costs. The clergy of the Episcopal 
church in Virginia also objected to his work, and he 
was summoned to appear at Williamsburg, the capital, 
to give an account of himself before the Governor. 
This he did with such ability and success as to gain for 
himself a license to preach at liberty throughout the 
colony. 

The first Presbytery, called the " Presbytery of Phil- 
adelphia," was organized in Philadelphia in 1706 by 
seven ministers, Davis, Wilson, Andrews, Ta} r lor, Mac- 
nish, Hampton, and Francis Makemie, who was made 
moderator. The first Presbyterian ordination was that 
of Mr. Boyd, in 1706, by this Presbytery. In 1716 
they had become strong enough to divide into three 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 185 

Presbyteries, Philadelphia, New Castle, and Long 
Island, and proceeded to constitute the Synod of Phil- 
adelphia with seventeen ministers. From this time the 
growth of Presbyterianism was steady, though not 
rapid. In 1729 the Westminster standards were for- 
mally adopted by the Synod, and subscription thereto 
made a condition of membership for ministers in the 
church. This was not accomplished, however, without 
serious consequences. Some members of the Synod 
objected to this rule as being too strict, and contended 
ior more liberty of opinion. These being in the minor- 
ity, failed to have their views adopted, and so the 
Synod divided into two independent bodies, called the 
"New Side Synod of New York," and the "Old Side 
Synod of Philadelphia." This occurred in 1741, and 
was the first schism in the American Presbyterian 
church. But the matter of subscription to the West- 
minster standards was not the only ground of differ- 
ence between the "Old Side" and the "New." Eev. 
William Tennent had established in 1727 in Bucks 
county, Pennsylvania, an educational institution called 
" The Log College." The building was of the rudest 
character, and the university-trained men considered 
the scholarship of the graduates of the Log College in- 
sufficient, though some of its alumni afterwards became 
very eminent in the church. This became a source of 
irritation at the time, the " Old Side" objecting to the 
influence of Tennent's college. Another cause of trou- 
ble was the mighty revival which swept the country 
from Georgia to New Hampshire. George Whitfield, 
Jonathan Edwards and Gilbert Tennent preached the 
Gospel with marvelous power, and thousands were 



186 the people's history 

converted to Christ. The "New Side" sympathized 
with this movement, but the "Old Side" looked upon 
it with distrust. 

Both "Sides" felt the need of better educational 
facilities, and the "New Side" took measures for the 
development of the Log College into an institution of 
high grade, which resulted in the establishment of the 
" College of New Jersey," or what is popularly called 
" Princeton College," now a magnificent seat of learning. 

This division of the church lasted seventeen years, 
and was healed in 1758, when the bodies came together 
under the name of " The Synod of New York and Phil- 
adelphia." 

The tendency to division has ever characterized 
Presbyterianism, and, while its results have not been 
always happy, it shows that Presbyterians love what 
they conceive to be the truth far more than mere ex- 
ternal unity and form. No other body has done so 
much for the propagation of sound doctrine among 
men as the Presbyterian or Reformed Church. Its 
members have seldom been known to surrender or 
compromise their convictions for the sake of expe- 
diency, even to save their property and their lives. 

There is another line of Presbyterian history begin- 
ning before the War of Independence and reaching 
down to the present day, which must be mentioned 
here. In 1753 the Revs. Alexander Gellatly and An- 
drew Arnott were sent over to America by the Asso- 
ciate Synod of Scotland and organized in Pennsylva- 
nia the "Associate Presbytery of America." In 1774 
Revs. Matthew Lynd and Alexander Dobbin, coming 
from Ireland, constituted the " Reformed Presbyterian 



OF PKESBYTERIANISM. 187 

Church of America." Both of these enterprises grew, 
and being in sympathy with one another, a union be- 
tween them was consummated in 1782, and the new 
body was styled "The Synod of the Associate Re- 
formed Church." Some of the Associate ministers did 
not go with their church in this union, but maintained 
a separate existence until 1858. At that time the 
union was consummated, and the result was the forma- 
tion of "The United Presbyterian Church of North 
America." Among the principles of this eminently 
conservative church have been opposition to the use of 
uninspired hymns in public worship, to slavery, and to 
secret societies. It refuses communion to those who do 
not agree to its distinctive tenets. 

At present the United Presbyterian church, which 
extends into twenty-one States, with Presbyteries in 
Canada, Egypt, and India, has 91,086 communicants. 
Some other smaller bodies in America are briefly de- 
scribed in Chapter XXIX, 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 

Fbom the First General Assembly in the United 

States to the Old and New School 

Division of 1837. 

DUKING the great War of Independence the Pres- 
byterians almost universally fought on the Amer- 
ican side. They were perhaps the strongest element ar- 
rayed against the crown, and prominent loyalist officials, 
in their letters to the home government, charged them 
with being the ringleaders of the rebellion. Presby- 
terian church buildings and manses were seized by the 
British soldiers and used as hospitals or as stables for 
their horses, or were destroyed by fire. 

Not only did the members of the Presbyterian 
churches, in the exercise of their personal rights as 
citizens, with commendable patriotism and courage 
contend for independence, but the courts of the church, 
also, in some instances, entered into the field and 
adopted resolutions calling upon the people to support 
the cause of liberty. 

When the war ended and the Kepublic started upon 
its career, it became necessary to change the constitu- 
tion of the church in some particulars, to adapt it to 
the condition of things under the new government. 
Provision was made for this change by the Synod on 
the 29th of May, 1788, and measures were at once 



m 



people's history of presbyterianism. 189 

adopted for the division of the body into four Synods 
and the erection of a General Assembly the year fol- 
lowing. The four Synods were the Synod of New 
York and New Jersey, the Synod of Philadelphia, the 
Synod of Virginia, and the Synod of the Carolinas. 
Before the old Synod dissolved it was ordered that a 
General Assembly convene in Philadelphia, May 21st, 
1789, and that Eev. John Witherspoon, D. D., open 
the meeting with a sermon and preside until a modera- 
tor could be chosen. This arrangement was carried 
out, and Dr. Witherspoon became the first presiding 
officer of the first General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
church in the United States of America. After the As- 
sembly had been constituted by Dr. Witherspoon, the 
Eev. John Rogers, D. D., of New York, was elected mod- 
erator, and Rev. George Duffield, of Carlyle, Pennsyl- 
vania, stated clerk. The first Congress of the United 
States, under the present constitution, was in session at 
the same time in New York. The Presbyterian church 
had now become an influential body. There were re- 
ported at this first Assembly 177 ministers, 431 
churches, about 18,000 communicants, and $852 con- 
tributed for missions. Among its first acts were the 
establishment of a missionary fund ; arranging for 
the publication of a revised and authorized edition of 
the " Confession of Faith ; " and the adoption of a 
solemn pastoral letter to the churches under its care. 
The ecclesiastic republic then being completely organ- 
ized for its labors, and the civil republic having estab- 
lished itself among the nations, greetings were ex- 
changed between the two. A letter addressed to Pres- 
ident Washington by the General Assembly and his 
16 



190 the people's history 

courteous response thereto, were briefly described in a 
former chapter. The chairman of the committee ap- 
pointed to present this communication to the President 
was Dr. Witherspoon, the life-long friend of Washing- 
ton. 

Soon after the war an intimacy sprang up betaveen 
the Presbyterians and the Congregationalists. At first 
this was sufficiently expressed by the exchange of fra- 
ternal commissioners at the annual meetings of the 
General Assembly and the Congregational Associations. 
But as this intimacy grew the way was preparing for a 
closer relationship, and in 1801 both parties adopted 
a "Plan of Union." This well-intentioned scheme 
provided that any Congregational church might have 
a Presbyterian pastor, who should retain his seat in his 
Presbytery, and that the church might be represented 
in that court, not by an elder, but a committee-man, or 
delegate chosen by the congregation. This comprom- 
ise of a fundamental principle could not fail to have a 
serious effect upon the polity of the whole church, and 
in consequence American Presbyterianism became 
somewhat loose in its administration. 

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

It has already been shown that the first schism in 
the American Presbyterian church grew partly out of 
the great revival of the eighteenth century. Another 
rupture was about to occur from a similar cause. The 
Cumberland Presbyterian church is the result of a 
division made in 1810. In 1797, under the labors of 
a Presbyterian minister, Rev. James McGready, a re- 
markable revival began in southwestern Kentucky. 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 



191 



This revival attained such proportions, and the in- 
crease in the number of churches was so large, that 
the demand for ordained ministers could not be met. 
Under the pressure of this need, the Cumberland Pres- 
bytery of Kentucky proceeded to ordain to the minis- 
try men who did not possess the educational qualifica- 
tions required by the constitution of the church. Many 
of these new ministers were also unable, by reason of 
peculiar doctrinal views, to subscribe to the Confession 
of Faith. The dissension which followed in the Synod 
of Kentucky, in consequence of this action, culminated 
in 1806 in the dissolution of the Cumberland Presby- 
tery, and in the annexation of the members considered 
sound to the Presbytery of Transylvania. This led to 
the formation of a council by those who dissented from 
the action of the Synod, and this council had charge of 
their operations until 1810, when they reorganized, on 
the 4th of February, the Presb} T tery of Cumberland, at 
the house of Mr. McAdow, in Dickson County, Tennes- 
see. It was constituted as an independent Presbytery. 
This body grew steadily, multiplying into other Pres- 
byteries, and now it has all the courts of a complete 
church under a General Assembly, representing a total 
of 138,564 communicants. Their form of government 
is Presbyterian, but though they have adopted the 
Westminster standards, it was not without material 
alteration by way of substituting a form of Arminian- 
ism for some of the strong Calvinistic statements. The 
Larger Catechism was omitted altogether ; also some of 
the sections of the chapter on " God's Eternal Decree." 
The congregations of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
church are mostly in the Mississippi Valley and the 



192 the people's history 

Southwest. Tlieir name is derived from the Presby- 
tery of Cumberland, situated in the country contiguous 
to the Cumberland river. 

The Old and New School Division. 

Another controversy now appears in the American 
Presbyterian Church, and one which resulted in a divi- 
sion on a much larger scale than any that had gone 
before. It grew partly out of the workings of the 
"Plan of Union" with the Congregationalists, and 
partly out of the great revival of religious zeal through- 
out the country at that period. Missionary and bene- 
volent societies were organized in great numbers, and 
appealed to the membership of the churches for sup- 
port. This produced a little friction with the regular 
denominational organs for carrying on aggressive oper- 
ations. A conflict between the two systems could not 
be avoided. Many persons objected to supporting the 
voluntary societies from fear of their disseminating the 
New England or New Haven theology, which was not 
strictly Calvinistic, so the question of doctrine be- 
came prominently concerned in the controversy. Un- 
der the "Plan of Union" entered into with the Con- 
gregationalists in 1801, delegates from that church were 
allowed to deliberate and vote in the General Assembly. 
This began to phow itself to be highly inexpedient in 
view of the subjects which were coming before the 
church. For this reason, therefore, the General As- 
sembly withdrew from "the agreement" with the Con- 
gregationalists. This, however, did not settle the 
trouble; for there was a difference among the Pres- 
byterians themselves. An "Old School" party and a 



OF PEESBYTEEIANISM. 193 

"New School" had developed, the "New School" sym- 
pathizing with the New Haven theology. Albert Barnes 
of Philadelphia and Lyman Beecher of Cincinnati, prom- 
inent leaders of the New School element, were sub- 
jected to trials in their respective Presbyteries for their 
doctrinal views, but were vindicated by the General 
Assembly. The movement for the abolition of African 
slavery now came to the front, and intensified the an- 
tagonisms in the church, the Old School party being 
more conservative in its views of that and other ques- 
tions. Their leaders set forth charges against the New 
School party in a document of great ability, drawn up 
by Dr. Bobert J. Breckenriclge, and called the "Act 
and Testimony." This was answered by the other side 
in a strong rejoinder, called the "Auburn Declaration." 
In the year 1837, when the General Assembly met, 
the Old School party found itself, for only the second 
time in seven years, in the majority. They believed 
that the time had come for decisive measures, which 
they proceeded to carry out in the abrogation of the 
Plan of Union as unconstitutional and void. They 
took the ground that the congregations organized under 
the Plan were not entitled to membership in the Pres- 
byterian church, and the Assembly disowned the 
Synod of the Western Beserve in Ohio, and the Synods 
of Geneva, Genessee and Utica in New York, in which 
most of the " mixed churches " were situated. The New 
School members resisted these measures, but unsuc- 
cessfully. The next year when the Assembly convened 
it was found that the Presb}i:eries of the four exscinded 
Synods had disregarded the act of the last Assembly 
and sent up their full number of commissioners. But 



194 the people's histoby 

they were refused seats in the body, whereupon they 
and many others effected an organization of their own, 
and elected Dr. Samuel Fisher moderator. This com- 
pleted the disruption, though the subject was kept be- 
fore the public for a long time by a lawsuit for the 
property, which was at first decided in favor of the 
New School, then, on appeal, in favor of the Old 
School. The matter was settled by the suit being 
withdrawn, each party keeping the property which it 
held at the time. 

Before this division occurred the Presbyterian 
Church of the United States had grown to be a power- 
ful organization, conducting many useful agencies for 
good both at home and abroad. The number of com- 
municants in 1837 was 220,557. In 1839 the Presby- 
teries reported to their respective Assemblies — Old and 
New School, 232,583 communicants, of which number 
126,583 belonged to the former and 106,000 to the 
latter body, representing altogether about one million 
adherents, distributed throughout the length and 
breadth of the land. 

This division, which separated the church into nearly 
equal parts, the Old School being somewhat in the 
majority, caused a great deal of controversy and bit- 
ter feeling throughout the country. Those who led 
the fray on either side were men of great intellectual 
&nd dialectic power, as well as strong convictions, and 
the contest enlisted the interest of all thoughtful 
people. 

Both churches grew and accomplished much good 
for the nation , though the Old School increased more rap- 
idly in numbers than the New. But as time passed on, 



OF PRESBYTEEIANISM. 195 

the two bodies of Presbyterians, laboring side by side, be- 
came more friendly, and the old animosities began to 
pass away. Meanwhile another and graver controversy 
was arising, not only in the churches, but in the na- 
tion — one which was destined to array the Northern 
and Southern States against one another on the field 
of war, costing the lives of a million of men, the ex- 
penditure of incalculable treasure, and causing the dis- 
ruption of nearly all the churches of Christ in the 
-country. 



CHAPTEB XXIV. 

The Gbeat Disruption in Church ahd Nation. 

THE most thrilling events in the history of Amer- 
ica are those connected with the great War of 
Secession. The controversy out of which this terrible 
conflict came as its final result was as old as the nation 
itself. The question was as to the relative powers of 
the national government, and those of the governments 
of the individual States. Southern men contended 
generally that each State had all power in itself, except 
what was expressly given the national government in 
the Federal constitution. Most Northern statesmen 
inclined to give greater authority to the national gov- 
ernment than the Southerners were willing to concede. 

Such a question could not remain long a matter of 
theoretical discussion. It was bound to become practi- 
cal. Any important matter of administration, in which 
the interests of a State, or a number of States, were 
brought into conflict with the sentiment of the nation, 
would bring it into the sphere of practical politics, and 
the question, with regard to that particular issue, would 
have to be settled. 

The question of " States' rights" took a practical 
shape, and assumed national importance in the anti- 
slavery agitation. The issue was whether the several 
States, or the Federal government, had jurisdiction 
196 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTOEY OF PKESBYTEEIANISM. 197 

over the institution of slavery, and whether slavery 
could be extended into Territories not yet organized as 
States. On this the Union was ruptured, and the 
Southern States seceded. Then followed the terrible 
war of secession. Slavery was finally abolished by the 
general government, and the attempt to set up a sep- 
arate nation, called the "Confederate States of Amer- 
ica," was a failure. Thus the great question was solved 
in favor of the Federal government, and against the 
rights of a State in the matter of slavery, and also its 
right to secede ; and the results of the war were made 
permanent in the form of amendments to the Federal 
constitution. 

The temporary disruption of the nation would nec- 
essarily produce the same result in the churches, which 
were not confined to one section of the country. It 
would be impossible to hold any general intercourse, 
or for the highest ecclesiastical courts to meet, while 
the land was divided in twain by a line of battle, along 
which contending armies fought with a courage and de- 
termination never surpassed in the annals of war. But 
this was not all that divided the churches, or they 
would immediately have come together again at the close 
of the conflict. Great questions had arisen in their 
Assemblies growing out of the national controversies, 
and they could not be settled by the appeal to arms. 
If nothing but a theory of civil government had been 
involved, or a matter of mere administration, the 
churches would have gone on their way in peace. But 
the question of slavery was involved in the struggle, 
and many good men in all churches differed as to 
whether it was right or wrong, expedient or inexpe- 



198 the people's histoey 

client; whether, if it were wrong, it came under the 
jurisdiction of the several States or the nation ; and 
finally, as to whether a church court had the right to 
take cognizance of the matter at all, or of secession, 
both of them falling into the sphere of politics. This 
last question divided the Presbyterian churches, Old 
and New School. 

The first disruption occurred in the New School 
church long before the secession of the Southern 
States. In 1856, and again in 1857, the New School 
General Assembly adopted resolutions in sympathy 
with the anti-slavery agitation. In consequence of this 
action several Southern Presbyteries withdrew and 
formed the "United Synod of the Presbyterian 
Church," afterwards called the "United Synod of the 
South." 

In the Spring of 1861 the war began, and the coun- 
try was thrown into a state of alarm and confusion. In 
various courts of the Old and New School churches, 
and especially in both General Assemblies, a sharp 
controversy had been waged with growing intensity for 
a long time on the burning questions that convulsed 
the nation. Without going fully into the history of 
this memorable debate, it may be sufficient to give the 
principal acts of the General Assemblies in the year 
1861. These will show the drift of opinion and the 
state of feeling in the churches at that time. 

In the New School General Assembly the following 
paper, the report of a "Special Committee, on the State 
of the Country," was adopted : 

" Whereas, A portion of the people of the United 
States of America have risen up against the rightful 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 199 

authority of the government, have instituted what they 
call ' The Confederate States of America,' in the name 
and defence of which they have made war against the 
United States, have seized the property of the Federal 
government, have assailed and overpowered its troops 
engaged in the discharge of their duty, and are now in 
armed rebellion against it ; the General Assembly of the 
Presbyterian Church of the United States of America 
cannot forbear to express their amazement at the 
wickedness of such proceedings, and at the bold advo- 
cacy and defence thereof, not only in those States in 
which the ordinances of ' Secession' have been passed, 
but in several others ; and 

" Whereas ', The General Assembly, in the language of 
the Synod of New York and Philadelphia on the occa- 
sion of the Revolutionary War, 'being met at a time 
when public affairs wear so threatening an aspect, and 
when ( unless God in his sovereign providence speedily 
prevents it) all the horrors of civil war are to be ap- 
prehended, are of the opinion that they cannot dis- 
charge their duty to the numerous congregations under 
their care without addressing them at this important 
crisis ; and as a firm belief and habitual recognition of 
the living God ought at all times to possess the minds 
of real Christians, so in seasons of public calamity, 
when the Lord is known by the judgments which He 
executeth, it would be an ignorance or indifference 
highly criminal not to look up to Him with reverence, 
to implore His mercy by humble and fervent prayer, 
and, if possible, to prevent His vengeance by unfeigned 
repentance ;' therefore 

" Resolved, 1, That inasmuch as the Presbyterian 



200 the people's histoey 

Church in her past history has frequently lifted up her 
voice against oppression, and has shown herself a 
champion of constitutional liberty, as against both des- 
potism and anarchy throughout the civilized world, we 
should be recreant to our high trust were we to with- 
hold our earnest protest against all such unlawful and 
treasonable acts. 

"Resolved, 2, That this Assembly and the churches 
which it represents, cherish an undiminished attach- 
ment to the great principles of civil and religious free- 
dom on which our national government is based, 
under the influence of which our fathers prayed and 
fought and bled, which issued in the establishment of 
our independence, by the preservation of which we be- 
lieve that the common interests of evangelical religion 
and civil liberty will be most effectually sustained. 

"Resolved, 3, That inasmuch as we believe, accord- 
ing to our form of government, that ' God, the Supreme 
Lord and king of all the world, hath ordained civil 
magistrates to be, under Him, over the people for his 
own glory and for the public good, and to this end 
hath armed them with the power of the sword for the 
defence and encouragement cf them that are good and 
for the punishment of evil-doers,' there is, in the judg- 
ment of this Assembly, no blood or treasure too precious 
to be devoted to the defence and perpetuity of the gov- 
ernment in all its constitutional authority. 

" Resolved, 4, That all those who are endeavoring to 
uphold the constitution and maintain the government 
of these United States in the exercise of its lawful pre- 
rogatives, are entitled to the sympathy and support of 
christian and law-abiding citizens. 



OF PKESBYTERIANISM. 201 

"Resolved, 5, That it be recommended to all our 
pastors and churches to be instant and fervent in 
prayer for the President of the United States and all 
in authority under him, that wisdom and strength may 
be given them in the discharge of their arduous duties ; 
for the Congress of the United States ; for the lieu- 
tenant-general commanding the army-in-chief, and 
all our soldiers, that God may shield them from dan- 
ger in the time of peril, and by the outpouring of the 
Holy Spirit upon the army and navy, renew and sanc- 
tify them, so that, whether living or dying, they may 
be the servants of the Most High. 

"Resolved, 6, That in the countenance which many 
ministers of the gospel and other professing christians 
are now giving to treason and rebellion against the gov- 
ernment, we have great occasion to mourn for the injury 
thus done to the kingdom of the Redeemer, and that, 
though we have nothing to add to our former significant 
and explicit testimonials on the subject of slavery, we yet 
recommend our people to pray more fervently than 
ever for the removal of this evil, and all others, both 
social and political, which lie at the foundation of our 
present national difficulties. 

" Resolved,, 7, That a copy of these resolutions, signed 
by the officers of the General Assembly, be forwarded 
to His Excellency Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
United States." 

"Immediately upon the adoption of this report the 
Assembly united in fervent prayer for the country and 
its rulers." 

In the Old School General Assembly, in session at 
Philadelphia about the same time, May, 1861, occurred 
i7 



202 the people's histoky 

a severe conflict, as will be seen from the following 
paper, offered by Eev. Gardiner Spring, D. D., of New 
York, by the substitute proposed for it by Kev. Charles 
Hodge, D. D., of Princeton, New Jersey, and by the 
protest recorded by Dr. Hodge and others. The opin- 
ing sermon, by Eev. Dr. Yeomans, was from the text, 
"My kingdom is not of this world," (John xviii. 36.) 
Only sixteen commissioners were present from the 
South. 

On motion of Dr. Spring, the famous "Spring Reso- 
lutions " were adopted, as follows : 

"Gratefully acknowledging the bounty and care of 
Almighty God toward this favored land, and also recog- 
nizing our obligations to submit to every ordinance of 
man for the Lord's sake, this General Assembly adopts 
the following resolutions : 

"Resolved, 1, That in view of the present agitated 
and unhappy condition of this country, the 4th day of 
July next be hereby set apart as a day of prayer 
throughout our bounds, and that on this day ministers 
and people are called on humbly to confess and be- 
wail our national sins; to offer our thanks to the 
Father of lights for His abundant and undeserved 
goodness towards us as a nation ; to seek His guidance 
and blessing upon our rulers and their counsels, as 
well as the then assembled Congress of the United 
States; and to implore Him in the name of Jesus 
Christ, the great Head of the christian profession, to 
turn away His anger from us and speedily restore to us 
the blessings of a safe and honorable peace. 

"Resolved, 2, That this General Assembly, in the 
spirit of that christian patriotism which the Scriptures 



OF PEESBYTEEIANISM. 203 

enjoin, and which has always characterized this church, 
do hereby acknowledge and declare our obligation to 
promote and perpetuate, as far as in us lies, the integ- 
rity of these United States, and to strengthen, uphold 
and encourage the Federal government in the exercise 
of all its functions under our noble constitution, and 
to this constitution, in all its provisions, requirements 
and principles, we profess our unabated loyalty. And 
to avoid all misconception, the Assembly declares that 
by the term 'Federal government,' as here used, is 
not meant any particular administration, or the 
peculiar opinions of any political party, but that cen- 
tral administration which, being at any time appointed 
and inaugurated according to the terms prescribed in 
the constitution of the United States, is the visible rep- 
resentative of our national existence." 

For this resolution Dr. Charles Hoclge offered the 
following substitute : " The unhappy contest in which 
the country is now involved has brought both the 
church and the state face to face with questions of 
patriotism and of morals, which are without a parallel 
in this or any other land. True to their hereditary 
principles, the ministers and elders present in the As- 
sembly have met the emergency by the most decisive 
proof in their respective social and civil relations of 
their firm devotion to the constitution and laws under 
which we live ; and they are ready, at all suitable times 
and at whatever personal sacrifice, to testify their loy- 
alty to that constitution under which ' this goodly vine 
has sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches 
unto the river.' 

"For the following reasons the Assembly deem it 



204 the people's history 

impossible to put forth, at the present time, a more ex- 
tended and emphatic deliverance upon the subject, to 
wit : 

"1. The General Assembly is neither a Northern 
nor a Southern body ; it comprehends the entire Pres- 
byterian Church, irrespective of geographical lines or 
political opinions ; and had it met this year, as it does 
with marked uniformity one-half of the time, in some 
Southern city, no one would have presumed to ask 
of it a fuller declaration of its views upon this subject 
than it has embodied in this minute. 

" 2. Owing to providential hindrances, nearly one- 
third of our Presbyteries are not represented at our 
present meeting; they feel that not only Christian 
courtesy, but common justice, requires that we should 
refrain, except in the presence of some stringent neces- 
sity, from adopting measures to bind the consciences 
of our brethren, who are absent, most of them, we be- 
lieve, by no fault of their own. 

"3. Such has been the course of events, that all the 
other evangelical denominations have been rent asun- 
der. We alone retain, this day, the proportions of 
a national church. We are happily united among 
ourselves on all questions of doctrine and discipline. 
The dismemberment of our church, while fraught with 
disaster to all our spiritual interests, could not fail 
to envenom the political animosities of the coun- 
try, and to augment the sorrows which already op- 
press us. We are not willing to sever this last bond 
which holds the North and South together in the fel- 
lowship of the gospel. Should an all-wise Providence 
hereafter exact this sacrifice, we shall be resigned to 



OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 205 

it ; but for the present, both religion and patriotism 
require us to cherish a union which, by God's bless- 
ing, may be the means of re-uniting our land." 

The debate on these two papers was earnest, and at 
times highly excited ; but the substitute of Dr. Hodge 
was lost, and Dr. Spring's resolution adopted by a vote 
of one hundred and fifty-four to sixty-six. Dr. Hodge 
and forty-five others presented against this action a pro- 
test, from which an extract is appended. 

The protest declared, " That the paper adopted by 
the Assembly does decide the political question just 
stated, in our judgment, is undeniable. It not only 
asserts the loyalty of this body to the constitution and 
Union, but it promises, in the name of all the churches 
and ministers whom it represents, to do all that in 
them lies to strengthen, uphold and encourage the Fed- 
eral government. It is, however, a notorious fact that 
many of our ministers and members conscientiously 
believe that the allegiance of the citizens of this coun- 
try is primarily due to the States to which they re- 
spectively belong, and that therefore, whenever any 
State renounces its connection with the United States, 
and its allegiance to the constitution, the citizens of 
that State are bound by the laws of God to continue 
loyal to their State and obedient to its laws. The 
paper adopted by the Assembly virtually declares, on 
the other hand, that the allegiance of the citizen is due 
to the United States, anything in the constitution or 
laws of the several States to the contrary notwithstand- 
ing ' . The General Assembly, in thus decid- 
ing a political question, and in making that decision 
practically a condition of church membership, has, in 



206 the people's history 

our judgment, violated the constitution of the church, 
and usurped the prerogative of its divine Master." 

On December 4, 1861, the Southern Presbyteries, 
by their representatives, organized, in Augusta, 
Georgia, the " General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church in the Confederate States of America," con- 
sisting of ninety-three ministers and ruling elders. 
Rev. B. M. Palmer, D. D., presided as moderator, and 
preached an opening sermon on Ephesians i. 22-23. 
"And gave Him to be head over all things to the 
church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that 
filleth all in all." 

The organization of the church was completed and 
the Westminster Confession of Faith and other stand- 
ards of the old church adopted, merely substituting the 
term "Confederate States" for "United States" 
wherever it occurred. The new body being fully in 
sympathy with the Confederate States, adopted a reso- 
lution as follows : 

"Resolved, That this General Assembly will spend 
the next half-hour, which is appointed for devotional 
exercises, in prayer to Almighty God for His blessing 
upon these Confederate States, and especially upon 
the officers and soldiers of our armies who are exposed 
to the dangers and temptations of the battle field and 
the camp." (Minutes 1861, p. 11.) 

In accordance with this order " the Assembly met and 
spent the first half -hour in special prayer for the bless- 
ing of God upon the cause of the Confederate States, 
according to previous order." (Minutes, p. 12.) 

At the next meeting of the General Assembly, the 
following was adopted : " The relation of our con- 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 207 

gregations to the great struggle in which we are engaged. 
All of the Presbyterial narratives, without exception, 
mention the fact that their congregations have evinced 
the most cordial sympathy with the people of the Con- 
federate States in their efforts to maintain their cher- 
ished rights and institutions against the despotic power 
Avhich is attempting to crush them. Deeply convinced 
that this struggle is not alone for civil rights, and pro- 
perty, and home, but also for religion, for the church, 
for the gospel, and for existence itself, the churches in 
our connection have freely contributed to its prosecu- 
tion of their substance, their prayers, and, above all, of 
their members and the beloved youth of their congre- 
gations. They have parted, without a murmur, with 
those who constitute the hope of the church, and have 
bidden them go forth to the support of this great and 
sacred cause with their benedictions, and their suppli- 
cations for their protection and success. The Assembly 
desires to record, with its solemn approval, this fact of 
the unanimity of our people in supporting a contest to 
which religion, as well as patriotism, now summons the 
citizens of this country, and to implore for them the 
blessing of God in the course they are now pursuing." 
(Narrative of 1862, p. 21.) 

The " General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
in the Confederate States of America," at its first meet- 
ing in Augusta, Georgia, adopted an address to all 
christian churches throughout the world, which gives 
not only the history of the organization of that Assem- 
bly but also furnishes an insight into the differences 
between the Wo great parties of that day. The follow- 
ing extracts contain the main points of the " Address :" 



208 the people's history 

"Augusta, Ga. } December, 1861. 

" The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
in the Confederate States of America to all the churches 
of Jesus Christ throughout the earth, greeting : Grace, 
mercy and peace be multiplied upon you. 

" Dearly Beloved Brethren : It is probably known 
to you that the Presbyteries and Synods in the Confed- 
erate States, which were formerly in connection with 
the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
the United States of America, have renounced the juris- 
diction of that body, and dissolved the ties which bound 
them ecclesiastically with their brethren of the North. 

"We have separated from our brethren of the North 
as Abraham separated from Lot — because we are per- 
suaded that the interests of true religion will be more 
effectually subserved by two independent churches, un- 
der the circumstances in which the two countries are 
placed, than by one united body. 

"1. In the first place, the course of the last Assem- 
bly, at Philadelphia, conclusively shows that, if we 
should remain together, the political questions which 
divide us as citizens will be obtruded on our Church 
courts, and discussed by christian ministers and elders, 
with all the acrimony, bitterness and rancour with 
Which such questions are usually discussed by men of 
the world. 

"The only conceivable condition, therefore, upon 
which the Church of the North and the South could 
remain together as one body, with any prospect of sue- 



OF PKESBYTEEIANISM. 209 

cess, is the rigorous exclusion of the questions and pas- 
sions of the forum from its halls of debate. This is 
what always ought to be done. The provinces of church 
and state are perfectly distinct, and the one has no right 
to usurp the jurisdiction of the other. The state is a 
natural institute, founded in the constitution of man as 
moral and social, and designed to realize the idea of 
justice. It is the society of rights. The church is a 
supernatural institute, founded in the facts of redemp- 
tion, and is designed to realize the idea of grace. It is 
the society of the redeemed. The state aims at social 
order, the church at spiritual holiness. The state looks 
to the visible and outward, the church is concerned for 
the invisible and inward. The badge of the state's au- 
thority is the sword, by which it becomes a terror to evil- 
doers, and a praise to them that do well. The badge 
of the church's authority is the keys, by which it opens 
and shuts the kingdom of heaven, according as men are 
believing or impenitent. The power of the church is 
exclusively spiritual, that of the state includes the ex- 
ercise of force. The constitution of the church is a 
divine revelation ; the constitution of the state must be 
determined by human reason and the course of provi- 
dential events. The church has no right to construct 
or modify a government for the state, and the state has 
no right to frame a creed or polity for the church. They 
are as planets moving in different orbits, and unless 
each is confined to its own track, the consequences 'may 
be as disastrous in the moral world as the collision of 
different spheres in the world of matter. It is true that 
there is a point at which their respective jurisdictions 
seem to meet — in the idea of duty. But even duty is 



210 the people's histoey 

viewed by each in very different lights. The church 
enjoins it as obedience to God, and the state enforces 
it as the safeguard of order. But there can be no colli- 
sion, unless one or the other blunders as to the things 
that are materially right. When the state makes wicked 
laws, contradicting the eternal principles of rectitude, 
the church is at liberty to testify against them; and 
humbly to petition that they may be repealed. In like 
manner, if the church becomes seditious and a disturber 
of the peace, the state has a right to abate the nuisance. 
In ordinary cases, however, there is not likely to be a 
collision. Among a christian people, there is little dif- 
ference of opinion as to the radical distinctions of right 
and wrong. • The only serious danger is where moral 
duty is conditioned upon a political question. Under 
the pretext of inculcating duty, the church may usurp 
the power to determine the question which conditions 
it, and that is precisely what she is debarred from doing. 
The condition must be given. She must accept it from 
the state, and then her own course is clear. If Caesar 
is your master, then pay tribute to him ; but whether 
the 'if holds, whether Caesar is your master or not 
whether he ever had any just authority, whether he now 
retains it, or has forfeited it, these are points which the 
church has no commission to adjudicate. 

" If it is desirable that each nation should contain a 
separate and an independent church, the Presbyteries 
of these Confederate States need no apology for bowing 
to the decree of Providence, which, in withdrawing 
their country from the government of the United 
States, has at the same time determined that thev should 



OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 211 

-withdraw from the church of their fathers. It is not 
that they have ceased to love it — not that they have 
abjured its ancient principles, or forgotten its glorious 
history. 

" The antagonism of the Northern and Southern sen- 
timent on the subject of slavery lies at the root of all 
the difficulties which have resulted in the dismember- 
ment of the Federal Union, and involved us in the hor- 
rors of an unnatural war. The Presbyterian Church in 
the United States has been enabled by the divine grace 
to pursue, for the most part, an eminently conservative, 
because a thoroughly scriptural, policy in relation to 
this delicate question. It has planted itself upon the 
Word of God, and utterly refused to make slave-holding 
a sin, or non-slave-holding a term of communion. But 
though both sections are agreed as to this general prin- 
ciple, it is not to be disguised that the North exercises 
a deep and settled antipathy to slavery itself, while the 
South is equally zealous in its defence. Recent events 
can have no other effect than to confirm the antipathy 
on the one hand, and to strengthen the attachment on 
the other. 

"And here we may venture to lay before the chris- 
tian world our views as a church upon the subject of 
slavery. We beg a candid hearing. 

" In the first place, we would have it distinctly under- 
stood that, in our ecclesiastical capacity, we are neither 
the friends nor the foes of slavery ; that is to say, we 
have no commission either to propagate or abolish it. 
TIip policy of its existence or non-existence is a ques- 



212 the people's history 

tion which exclusively belongs to the State. "We have 
no right, as a church, to enjoin it as a duty, or to con- 
demn it as sin. Our business is with the duties that 
spring from the relation : the duties of the masters on 
the one hand, and of their slaves on the other. These 
duties we are to proclaim and to enforce with spiritual 
sanctions. The social, civil, political problems con- 
nected with this great subject transcend our sphere, as 
God has not entrusted to his church the organization 
of society, the construction of governments, nor the 
allotment of individuals to their various stations. The 
church has as much right to preach to the monarchies 
of Europe and the despotisms of Asia the doctrines of 
republican equality as to preach to the governments of 
the South the extirpation of slavery. This position is 
impregnable, unless it can be shown that slavery is a 
sin. 

" Now we venture to assert, that if men had drawn 
their conclusions upon this subject only from the Bible, 
it would no more have entered into any human head to 
denounce slavery as a sin than to denounce monarchy, 
aristocracy, or poverty. 

" We feel that the souls of our slaves are a solemn 
trust, and we shall strive to present them faultless and 
complete before the presence of God. 

" Indeed, as we contemplate their condition in the 
Southern States, and contrast it with that of their 
fathers before them, and that of their brethren in the 
present day in their native land, we cannot but accept 
it as a gracious providence that they have been brought 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 213 

in such numbers to our shores, and redeemed from the 
bondage o'i barbarism and sin. Slavery to them has 
certainly been overruled for the greatest good. It has 
been a link in the wondrous chain of Providence, 
through which many sons and daughters have been 
made heirs of the heavenly inheritance. 

"The ends which we propose to accomplish as a 
church are the same as those which are proposed by 
every other church. To proclaim God's truth as a wit- 
ness to the nations ; to gather His elect from the four 
corners of the earth ; and through the Word, ministries 
and ordinances to train them for eternal life, is the 
great business of his people. The only thing that will 
be at all peculiar to us, is the manner in which we 
shall attempt to discharge our duty. In almost every 
department of labor, except the pastoral care of con- 
gregations, it has been usual for the church to resort 
to societies more or less closely connected with itself, 
and yet logically and really distinct. It is our purpose 
to rely upon the regular organs of our government, and 
executive agencies directly and immediately responsi- 
ble to them. We wish to make the church not merely 
a superintendent, but an agent. We wish to develop 
the idea that the congregation of believers, as visibly 
organized, is the very society or corporation which is 
divinely called to do the work of the Lord. 

" We shall, therefore, endeavor to do what has never 
yet been adequately done — bring out the energies of 
our Presbyterian system of government. From the 
Session to the Assembly we shall strive to enlist all our 
courts, as courts, in every department of christian 
18 



214 the people's history of presbyterianism. 

effort. We are not ashamed to confess that we are in- 
tensely Presbyterian. We embrace all other denomi- 
nations in the arms of christian fellowship and love, 
but our own scheme of government we humbly believe 
to be according to the pattern shown in the Mount, and, 
by God's grace, we hope to put its efficiency to the test. 

" Brethren, we have done. We have told you who 
we are, and what we are. We greet you in the ties of 
christian brotherhood. We desire to cultivate peace 
and charity with all our fellow-christians throughout 
the world. 

"We invite to ecclesiastical communion all who 
maintain our principles of faith and order. And now 
we commend you to God and the word of His grace. 
We devoutly pray that the whole catholic church may 
be afresh baptized with the Holy Ghost, and that she 
may speedily be stirred up to give the Lord no rest until 
He establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the 
earth," 

Thus the great division was made in state and 
church. The civil war raged for four years, friends, 
and even brothers, being marshalled against each other 
on the field. Both churches, North and South, labored 
to comfort the afflicted, to call sinners to Christ, to 
bear the light of the gospel before the eyes of men. 
Both made mistakes ; the times were terrible. The 
pathos of their history can never be written. But they 
have gone; the war is over; and many years have 
passed away since then, leaving blessings behind them. 
The old battle-fields are planted in wheat and corn, and 
where once resounded the roar of cannon and the clash 
of arms, are now heard the voices of reapers gathering 
the golden harvests of peace. 






CHAPTER XXV. 

American Presbyterianism After the War of Se- 
cession. 

rjnHE war ended in 1865, when General Robert E. 
JL Lee surrendered to General XL S. Grant at Appo- 
mattox Courthouse, Virginia, and as the clouds cleared 
away, the work of reconstructing the Union began. 
The name of the " Presbyterian Church in the Confede- 
rate States of America " was then changed to the " Pres- 
byterian Church in the United States," the same as that 
of the Northern Church, except that the words "of 
.America" were omitted. 

"While the Avar was still going on, a union was con- 
summated between the " General Assembly of the Pres- 
byterian Church in the Confederate States of America " 
and the "United Synod of the South." It will be re- 
called that this latter body had been formed by a num- 
ber of Southern members who seceded from the New 
School General Assembly, in 1857, on account of some 
deliverances on the subject of slavery to which they ob- 
jected. In 1863 this "United Synod," which repre- 
sented the New School element in the South, was re- 
ceived into the Southern Church, The basis of this 
union was a hearty agreement between the two bodies, 
expressed in a "Declaration," concerning: 1, The fall 
of man, original sin, imputation of guilt, origin of sin, 
2I 5 



216 the people's history 

etc. ; 2, Concerning regeneration ; 3, Concerning the 
atonement of Jesus Christ ; 4, Concerning the believer's 
justification; 5, Concerning revivals; 6, Concerning 
voluntary societies and the functions of the church. 
This body brought to their new allies 120 ministers, 
190 churches, and 12,000 communicants. Another ac- 
cession was the Presbytery of Patapsco, in 1867, con- 
sisting of 6 ministers, 3 churches, and 576 communi- 
cants. 

In 1869 the Synod of Kentucky, being the one of two 
bodies covering the same ground and bearing the same 
name, in sympathy with the views of the Southern 
Presbyterians, was received into their General Assem- 
bly. In no part of the country had more stormy 
scenes been enacted in the trying times before, dur- 
ing, and just after the war than in Kentucky. The 
storm swept the church as well as the state. When 
the " General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
in the United States" was formed, in 1861, at Au- 
gusta, Georgia, the Synod of Kentucky declined to 
join the movement, maintained its connection with 
the Old Church in the North, and, at the same time, 
adopted condemnatory resolutions touching the acts 
of the General Assembly of 1861, saying, the Synod 
" regrets that part of the action of the last Assembly 
touching the order for a day of general prayer, which 
was liable to be construed, and was construed, into a 
requisition on all the members and office-bearers of the 
church living in the numerous States which had seceded 
from the United States, and were in a state of war with 
them, as bound by christian duty and by the authority 
of the church, to disregard the hostile governments 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 217 

which had been established over them, and, in defiance 
of the actual authority of those governments, to pray 
for their overthrow." 

In 1862 the General Assembly which had been thus 
criticized condemned this action of the Synod of Ken- 
tucky. 

In 1864 the Synod again felt called upon to express 
its disapproval of a deliverance of the General Assem- 
bly on the subject of slavery, but declared that it ad- 
hered with unbroken purpose to the Presbyterian 
Church in the United States of America. In 1865 this 
debate between the Synod of Kentucky and the Gen- 
eral Assembly was continued, by the latter body con- 
demning the Synod for having taken exception to its 
action on slavery. The fires were growing warmer. A 
formal protest, called the "Declaration and Tes- 
mony," was published by those in several Synods who 
disapproved of the line of policy pursued by the Gen- 
eral Assembly in the matters referred to above. In 
1865 the Synod, by a vote of 54 to 46, expressed its 
disapprobation of the "Declaration and Testimony," 
as being unwise, and having a tendency to divide 
the church still more. 

Next spring, 1866, the Northern Assembly (Old 
School) adopted what was called the "Gurley ipso 
facto order," in which the signers of the "Declaration 
and Testimony" and the members of the Louisville 
Presbytery who voted to adopt that paper, were re- 
quired to appear before the next General Assembly to 
answer for their conduct, and in the meantime they were 
not to be allowed to sit in any church court higher than 
<i session, and furthermore, it was declared that if any 



218 the people's history 

Presbytery disregarded this order and enrolled as a 
member any one who had signed the " Declaration and 
Testimony," that Presbytery should, "ipso facto!' be 
dissolved. 

This order led to a rupture of the Synods of Ken- 
tucky and Missouri in 1866, and the establishment of 
two independent Synods. Of the Synod of Kentucky, 
consisting of 108 ministers, 32 adhered to the General 
Assembly. In 1867 the "Declaration and Testimony" 
Synod of Kentucky, claiming to have acted lawfully, de- 
clared that the General Assembly had so far violated the 
constitution that it was no longer anything more than a 
revolutionary and schismatical body. This closed the 
controversy, and two years afterwards the Synod 
joined the " General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
Church (Southern) in the United States," bringing to 
that body 75 ministers, 137 churches and 13,540 com- 
municants. 

A similar history was enacted in the Synod of Mis- 
souri, many members of which were signers of the 
" Declaration and Testimony," resulting likewise in a 
division. The Synod containing the "Declaration and 
Testimony" men was called the "Old School Synod of 
Missouri." This organization maintained an indepen- 
dent existence, laboring side by side with the Synod 
of Missouri connected with the Presbyterian Church 
North, until 1874, when it formally united with the 
Southern General Assembly. A few who dissented 
from this action joined the Northern Assembly. By 
this accession the Southern church gained 67 min- 
isters, 141 churches and 8,000 communicants. 






of pkesbyterianismo ^1& 

Reunion of the Old and New School Churches, 

The union of the Old and New School General As- 
semblies in the north was accomplished in 1869. The 
movement which resulted in this consummation began 
as far back as 1849, when the New School Assembly ap- 
pointed fraternal delegates to convey their cordial greet- 
ings to the Old School Assembly. This courtesy, how- 
ever, was not responded to by the Old School body, 
and no delegates were appointed on their part ; where- 
upon those sent from the New School church returned 
their commissions and were discharged. The animosi- 
ties of the past, which grew out of doctrinal differences, 
were, however, dying away, and the great questions of 
slavery and the union were arising in the minds of both 
Assemblies so as, at length, to obscure all other issues. 
A common interest in these great matters tended to draw 
both churches towards one another, and though the 
Old School Assembly declined a proposal for union 
from one of its Presbyteries in 1850, a feeling in that 
direction had evidently begun to manifest itself even 
then. In 1862 fraternal correspondence was estab- 
lished, by the adoption of an act to that effect in the 
Old School Assembly. In 1863 this was cordially re- 
sponded to by the New School Assembly, and delegates 
were exchanged the same year. 

The subject of reunion was formally broached in 
1866, by the Old School Assembly calling for a con- 
ference of a joint committee to consider the matter. 
The sister Assembly cordially concurred in this pro- 
posal, and in 1867 the joint committee reported to both 
Assemblies a plan for the consolidation of the two great 



220 THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY 

branches of the Presbyterian Church in the North* But 
the time had not quite come ior the reunion, and a dif- 
ference of opinion as to the basis upon which it was to 
be effected caused the matter to be kept in abeyance 
for several years, though the negotiations were con- 
tinued. In 1869 both churches agreed to the union, 
and each General Assembly adopted unanimously the 
following declaration : 

"This Assembly having received and examined the 
statement of the votes of the several Presbyteries on 
the basis of the reunion of the two bodies now claiming 
the name and the right of the Presbyterian Church in 
the United States of America, ■ which basis is in the 
words following, namely : ' The union shall be effected 
on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical basis of our common 
standards; the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
ments shall be acknowledged to be the inspired word of 
God and the only infallible rule of faith and practice ; 
the Confession of Faith shall continue to be sincerely 
received and adopted as containing the system of doc- 
trine taught in the Holy Scriptures; and the govern- 
ment and discipline of the Presbyterian Church in the 
United States shall be approved as containing the prin- 
ciples and rules of our polity;' does hereby find and 
declare that said basis of union has been approved by 
more than two-thirds of the Presbyteries connected 
with this branch of the church ; and whereas the other 
branch of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, 
now sitting in the Third (or the First) Presbyterian 
Church in the city of Pittsburg, has reported to this 
Assembly that said basis has been approved by more 
than fcwo-thirds of the Presbyteries connected with that 



OF PRESBYTERlANISlil. 221 

branch ot the church, Now, therefore, we do sol- 
emnly DECLARE THAT SAID BASIS OF REUNION IS OF BIND- 
ING FORCE." l 

The same year the two Assemblies met in Pittsburg, 
Pa., to hold a joint convention and consummate the re- 
union. At ten o'clock, on Friday, November 12th, they 
met in processions, headed by their respective modera- 
tors, at a designated spot in the street, and blended into 
one. The moderators clasped hands, joined arms, and 
marched to the Third Presbyterian Church, followed by 
all the officers and members, greeting one another and 
locking arms in the same manner. As the procession 
entered the central aisle of the church, the grand hymn 
of Wesley, " Blow ye the trumpet, blow," etc., was sung, 
and the re-united body took their seats amidst the greatest 
enthusiasm. Addresses were delivered by the modera- 
tors and others, ministers and elders, intermingled with 
prayer and devout thanksgiving to God. 

Resolutions were adopted, from which the following 
is an extract, expressing the feelings and purposes of 
those who participated in this great scene : 

"In the providence of God, the two branches of the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 
after a separation of more than thirty years, are again 
united. This event, in its magnitude, is unparalleled in 
the ecclesiastical history of this country, and almost of 
the world. It evidences to all men the presence and 
unifying power of the Divine Spirit. A fact so remark- 
able and significant attracts interest and creates expec- 
tation among even worldly minds. It awakens the sym- 
pathies and the hopes of all who truly love Christ 

1 Minutes, 1869, p. 1163, O. S. ; 1869, p, 600, H. B. 



222 the people's history 

among other denominations. It awakens hope, since 
it illustrates the evident purpose of God to bring all his 
followers into closer union in spirit, combine them in 
action for the overthrow of error and the diffusion of 
his truth ; it awakens expectation, since they justly an- 
ticipate, on our part, from this union of resources, 
spirit, and action, a far moie vigorous assault upon the 
forces of darkness and more decided efforts to spread 
the gospel among all classes in our own and other 
lands. 

" Let us then, the ministers, elders, and members of 
this church here assembled, as, in spirit, standing in 
the presence of and representing the entire body of be- 
lievers in our connection, and the beloved missionaries 
in foreign lands, who now await, with tender and prayer- 
ful interest, this consummation of our union — let us, in 
humble dependence upon our dear Redeemer, with 
deep humility in view of our past inefficiency and pre- 
sent unworthiness, and as an expression of our devout 
gratitude to him who has brought this once dissevered, 
now united, church up to this Mount of Transfigura- 
tion, signalize this most blessed and joyous union with 
an offering in some good degree commensurate with the 
abundant pecuniary gifts that he has bestowed on us. 
And 5 to this end, be it 

lc .Eesolved, That it is incumbent upon the Presbyterian 
Church in the United States of America, one in organi- 
zation, one in faith, and one in effort, to make a special 
offepjng to the treasury of the Lord of five millions 

OF DOLLARS. " 

This transaction of national or world-wide impor- 






OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 223 

tance produced a profound impression. Such an event 
had hardly occurred before in all history. The spirit 
and the strength of the re-united church may be learned 
from the fact that, in 1872, the thank-offering it had 
been resolved to raise was reported to have been ex- 
ceeded, and the amount reached the magnificent sum 
total of $7,833,983.85! 

This gives some idea of the constant growth of the 
denomination since the day it 'was organized by Ma- 
kemie and his six co-laborers at Philadelphia, in 1705. 
The first meeting of the General Assembly after the re- 
union reported 446,561 communicants. Through all 
the divisions and controversies, and the terrible civil 
war, the church had been growing steadily, doing all 
along a grand work for the country and for Christ, in 
the achievements of peace, which historians do not 
record, and which are not all included in tabulated 
statistics. 

The Southern Church had been also growing and 
doing a noble work in its field. During the weary years 
of national strife it had gone forward preaching the 
gospel, often amidst the smoke of battle, sharing the 
impoverishment of a country engaged in a life and 
death struggle, which ended at last in disaster and total 
financial ruin. On small salaries and no salaries, its 
ministers had labored on, waiting for a brighter day. 
Sow, in 1888, the two churches stand side by side, 
strong in the truth of God, strong in faith and love 
and hope, looking forward to the future with trust and 
consecration. 

Fraternal correspondence was established between 
the Northern and Southern General Assemblies in 



224 THE people's history 

1882. The subject had been for a number of years 
before both bodies. But the Southern Assembly had 
declined to establish "fraternal relations" with its 
sister church, because of certain deliverances of the 
Northern Assembly growing out of the anti-slavery 
agitation and secession. After a number of years 
of fruitless negotiations, the object in question was 
rather unexpectedly accomplished in 1882, by the 
adoption by the two assemblies of what has passed 
into history as the " concurrent resulotion." It origi- 
nated in the Southern Assembly at Atlanta, where it 
was adopted with but three dissenting votes. It was 
then telegraphed to the Northern Assembly, at Spring- 
field, Illinois, for their "prayerful consideration, and mu- 
tatis mutandis, for their reciprocal concurrence, as af- 
fording a basis for the exchange of delegates forthwith." 
The resolution stated : " That while receding from 
no principle, we do hereby declare our regret for, and 
withdrawal of, all expressions of our Assembly which 
may be regarded as reflecting upon, or offensive to, 
the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
America." This resolution was adopted by the North- 
ern Assembly, without the last two words, " of Amer- 
ica," so as to make it refer to the other Assembly, as 
had been requested. But when the action was tel- 
egraphed back to the Southern Assembly, it was ac- 
companied by a dispatch from the Northern moder- 
ator to the effect " that in the action now being taken 
we disclaim any reference to the actions of preceding 
Assemblies concerning loyalty and rebellion, but we 
refer only to those concerning schism, heresy and blas- 
phemy." 






OF PRESBYTEMANISM. 225 

The reception of this message made an unpleasant 
impression on the Southern Assembly, and came very 
near putting an end to the negotiations ; but an answer 
was sent back stating that "If the action of your As- 
sembly, telegraphed by your moderator to our moder- 
ator, does not modify the concurrent resolution 
adopted by your Assembly and ours, we are prepared 
to send delegates forthwith." The Northern Assembly 
responded : " The action referred to does not modify, 
but explains, the concurrent resolution, and the expla- 
nation is on the face of the action. There is nothing 
behind it or between the lines. Shall we appoint del- 
egates this day to visit the respective Assemblies next 
year?" 

In answer to this the Southern Assembly notified 
the Northern of its "entire satisfaction with the 
full and explicit terms in which it had expressed its 
'reciprocal concurrence,"' and immediately appointed 
delegates to attend the General Assembly of the North, 
the following year, in Saratoga. The Northern Assem- 
bly likewise appointed delegates to visit the General 
Assembly of the South at its next meeting, in Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky. Both these delegations performed their 
duties satisfactorily, and a pleasant impression was 
made throughout the land by the exhibition of kindly 
feeling. Fraternal correspondence was continued for 
several years, by delegates, but of late it has been by 
the exchange of letters of greetings and good will. 

The Assemblies of both churches concurred in 1887 

in the appointment of a joint committee of conference, 

consisting of equal numbers from each body, to inquire 

and report to the respective meetings in 1888, as to 

*9 



226 the people's history of peesbyterianism. 

what are the obstacles in the way of the re -union of the 
Northern and Southern Presbyterian Churches. 

The Presbyterian churches, North and South, have 
been foremost in promoting education and in providing 
a thoroughly educated ministry for their congregations. 
They have theological seminaries at Princeton (New 
Jersey), established in 1812 ; Auburn (New York), 1819 ; 
Union (Hampden-Sidney, Yirginia), 1824; Western 
(Allegheny, Pennsylvania), 1827; Lane (Cincinnati), 
1829; McCormick (Chicago), 1830; Columbia (South 
Carolina), 1831 ; Danville (Kentucky), 1853 ; German 
(Dubuque, Iowa), 1856 ; Bicldle (colored, North Caro- 
lina), 1868; German (Bloomfield, New Jersey), 1869; 
San Francisco, 1871 ; and Lincoln (colored, Pennsyl- 
vania), 1871; Tuskaloosa (colored, Alabama), 1877. 
There are also theological seminaries of recent origin at 
Clarkesville, Tenn., and Austin, Texas, making sixteen 
in all, many of which are the peers of any similar insti- 
tutions in the world. No other church in the nation is 
better equipped with facilities for theological education. 






CHAPTEE XXVI. 

The Presbyterian Church and its Sisters in the 
United States. 

SINCE the year 1789, when the first General Assembly 
met in Philadelphia, the population of the country 
has increased until it is now fifteen times as great as 
then, but the membership of the Presbyterian churches 
has increased until it is more than fifty times as large 
as it was a hundred years ago. The growth of this 
church is more rapid than that of the nation. During 
these one hundred years just closing, it has added to its 
membership about 1,500,000 persons on profession of 
faith, of whom 633,000 have come in since 1870. 

The prospects of Presbyterianism are very bright in 
America, and throughout the world. Its ministers are 
recognized as inferior to those of no other church, in 
scholarship, pulpit ability and doctrinal soundness. It 
is remarkable that in the new world orthodoxy should 
have some of its strongest defenders. In all the trials 
of the last hundred years in American history the old 
doctrines have remained substantially unchanged ; the 
Westminster Confessions have been sacredly preserved. 
Because a few restless men here and there are foolish 
enough to speak against the very things which, by the 
conflict of past ages, have given them the liberty to 
speak, it is a mistake to suppose that our time-honored 
institutions are being given up. 

227 



228 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTOEY 



TABLE Showing the Growth of the Presbyterian Church in the 
United States since 1789, when the First General Assembly 
Met in Philadelphia: 



Years 



1789 

1800 

1810 

1820 

1830 

1837 

1839 i^^ School,. 
(New School, 
Iraq 1 Old School,. 
104y "|New School, 
1CC - Q (Old School, . 
1&DJ INew School, 
1«RQ (Old School,. 
10by "(New School, 

1870 IK;:;;;: 
**>{£&:-:: 

Totals, 1887,.. 



Churches 


Ministers 


431 


177 


449 


189 


772 


434 


1299 


741 


2158 


1491 


2865 


2140 


1673 


1615 


1260 


1093 


2512 


1860 


1555 


1453 


3487 


2577 


1542 


1545 


2740 


2381 


1721 


1848 


4526 


4238 


1469 


840 


5489 


5044 


1928 


1060 


6436 


5654 


2236 


1116 


8672 


6770 



Communi- 
cants. 



18,000 

20,000 

28,901 

72,096 

173,327 

220,557 

126,583 

106,000 

200,830 

139,047 

279,630 

137,990 

258,963 

172,560 

446,561 

82,014 

578,671 

120,028 

697,835 

150,398 



Benevolent 
Contribu- 
tions. 



$ 852 

(?) 2,500 

5,439 

12,861 

184,192 

281,989 

134,439 

Not given. 

369,371 

Not given. 

764,668 

266,574 

1,346,179 

753,953 

2,023,956 

129,006 

2,262,871 

145,777 

3,196,458 

230,753 






848,233 l|3,427,211 



The following are the principal Presbyterian bodies 
in the United States : 

Churches. Ministers. Communicants. 

Presbyterian, Northern _„_ . 6,437 5,654 696,827 

Presbvterian, Southern 2,236 1,116 150,398 

Presbyterian, Cumberland 2,540 1,563 145,146 

Presbyterian, Cumberland (colored) 500 200 13,000 

Presbyterian, United 644 730 91,086 

Presbyterian, Keformed (Synod) 124 112 10,856 

Welsh Calvinistic 175 84 9,563 

Associated Reformed Synod, South, 72 79 7,015 

Reformed (General Synod), 48 37 6, 800 

Reformed (German), 1, 481 802 183, 980 

Reformed (Dutch), 547 547 85, 543 

Synod of Christian Reformed Church, ._ 50 6,800 

Totals, __. 14,854 10,924 1,407,014 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 229 

The family of christian churches in the United 
States is large, as will appear by a perusal of the fol- 
lowing comparative statistical tables of the principal 
ones. These are not in every case perfect, as some de- 
nominations do not exercise much care in the matter 
of their statistical reports. The figures as to the 
Presbyterian and Keformed Churches, however, are 
strictly accurate and official. 

Pkincipal Denominations op the United States. 

Communicants. 

Methodists (including 884,000 colored Methodists) 4,367,589 

Baptists (including 985,814 colored Baptists) 2,917,315 

Presbyterians (all kinds), __. 1,407,014 

Lutherans, white and colored, 930, 830 

Disciples of Christ, " " 582,800 

Congregationalists, " " 436,379 

Episcopalians, " " 418,531 

These statistics are taken from the "Year Books'" 
of the churches. 

The estimates of adherents, or population belonging 
to each of these denominations in the United States, 
obtained in the usual manner, by multiplying the num- 
bers of communicants by four, are as follows : 

Adherents. 
Methodists (all kinds ; including 3, 53 6, 000 colored people). .17,470,356 

Baptist (including 3,943,256 colored Baptists) 11,669,260 

Presbyterians „ 5,628,056 

Lutherans _ 3,723,320 

Disciples of Christ _ __.,_. 2,331,200 

Congregationalists 1,745,516 

Episcopalians 1,674,124 



It will be profitable to notice and compare the 
owth 
nation. 



growth of the evangelical churches with that of the 



230 the people's histoey 

Population of the United States. 

1800, . „ 5,308,483 

1810, ______ 7,239,881 

1820, 9,633,822 

1830, _._ 12,866,020 

1840, _. 17,069,453 

1850,. __ _ 23,191,876 

1860, 31,443,321 

1870, ___ 38,558,37 

1880, __.„ „ . .._. 50,155,78 

According to the census of 1880 there were — 

Native-born whites 36,843,291 

Native-born colored _ 6,632,549 

Foreign-born _„_____ __ 6,679,943 

Total. 50,155,783 

Of the foreign-born there were natives of 

Great Britain and Ireland 2,772,169 

German Empire 1,966,774 

British America __ 717,084 

Norway . __ __ 194,337 

Sweden 181,729 

France — 106,971 

China. 104,541 

While the population of the United States multiplied 
fifteen times, as has been stated already, the commu- 
nion roll of the Presbyterian churches multiplied fifty 
times. Let us now see what was the growth of Roman 
Catholicism compared with that of the population of 
the country. These statistics are from Dr. Dorchester's 
" Problem of Religious Progress." 

Population of the Evan- Roman Catholic 
gelical Churches, Population. 

Inl800.__ 1,277,052 100,000 

In 1850 12.354,058 1,614,000 

In 1870 23,556,886 4,600,000 

In 1880 35,230,870 6,367,330 






OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 231 

These figures show that during eighty years the in- 
crease was : 

Evangelical Population. K. C. Population. 

From 1800 to 1880 33,953,818 6,267,330 

" 1850 to 1880 22,875,912 4,753,330 

" 1870 to 1880 11,873,984 1,767,330 

The last ten years were, relatively, the best for evan- 
gelical progress. 

The evangelical population, Di\ Dorchester says, 
was : 

In 1800, 24.06 per cent, of the whole population. 

In 1850, 53,22 

In 1870, 60.57 

In 1880, 70.003 " 

These statistics, showing the growth of the Presbyte- 
rian element, the whole evangelical, and the Koman Cath- 
olic, in proportion to the increase of population in the 
country, have been given to counteract the impression 
in the minds of many that the Koman Catholic Church 
is gradually taking possession of the nation. It has 
grown unquestionably, but so have the Protestant 
churches, and much more rapidly. The Koman Catho- 
lics have grown mainly by immigration from Europe • 
they make far fewer converts from us than we from 
them. Almost any city pastor can tell of numbers of 
Catholics or children of Catholics whom he has received 
into his congregation, but very few could give the names 
of members who have been lost to them by joining the 
Koman Catholic Church. There is undoubtedly a ten- 
dency among Koman Catholics, in the third and fourth 
generations after coming to the United States, to de- 
sert the church of their fathers and become Protestants. 



232 the people's history 

Our free institutions, newspapers, and public schools 
are unfavorable to superstition and ecclesiastical tyr- 
anny. They have built many magnificent churches and 
charitable institutions, which do a noble work among 
the unfortunate, while they propagate their faith ; they 
have, in many cases, unfairly gained a share of public 
funds to support their schools and other church enter- 
prises, through the dishonesty of self-seeking politi- 
cians ; and these things will continue with more or less 
frequency ; but who that knows the American people 
can believe that it will ever be possible for the seven 
millions of Roman Catholics in this land to overcome 
the remaining fifty millions, and subvert the govern- 
ment, or destroy our civil and religious liberties ? The 
hierarchy of Rome, unless they have radically changed, 
— and their motto is, " Semper idem" always the sains — 
would do it if they could ; but they cannot. Protestants 
will have to contend with them in the forum and at the 
ballot box, but probably never with the sword, in this 
free country. If it should come to that, however, and 
we should have to fight over again the battles of the 
past, the Protestants of America would arise en masse, 
forgetting all differences and rivalries, and join hands 
in such a demonstration as would utterly destroy every 
menace to their liberties. We do not wish to oppress 
the Roman Catholics; nor do we propose that they 
shall oppress us. They may have perfect liberty so 
long as they obey the laws. But the days have passed 
when such persecutions as blotted the history of the 
fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries with 
blood can occur again. The hands on the clock of time 
have moved a long way since then, and no earthly 



OF PKESBYTERIANISM. 233 

power can set them back, especially in free America, 
and wherever English is spoken, or the tramp of Anglo- 
Saxon feet is heard. 

The Roman Catholic church is losing ground in 
Europe. The Pope is deprived of his temporal power, 
and though statesmen do sometimes court his influ- 
ence in elections, the spectacle is no longer witnessed 
of kings and queens holding their thrones at his will. 
He calls himself the " Prisoner of the Vatican." Since 
the year 1500, just before the Reformation, when 
Europe had a population of 100,000,000, of whom 80,- 
000,000 were members of the Roman Church, to the 
present day, the adherents of that church have grown 
to be (according to Professor Schem) 149,000,000. 
During that period it has gained 69,000,000 ; but for 
the same time Protestantism, starting with a few thou- 
sands of Waldenses, Hussites, and Lollards, with im- 
mense opposing influences, has gained 74,000,000 in 
the same countries. Truly Protestantism is not in 
danger. 

One of the greatest instrumentalities for the advance- 
ment of Protestantism, with its civil and religious 
freedom, is the Anglo-Saxon race and language. This 
wonderful race," with its indomitable energy, courage 
and instinct for liberty, is spreading over a large por- 
tion of the globe. It never loses its identity, but carries 
its institutions wherever it goes, and establishes them. 
It is becoming in the modern world what the Romans 
were in the ancient, and the English language is rap- 
idly becoming what the Latin once was — the language 
of the civilized world. In 1801 English was spoken 
by one-eighth of the whole number of civilized men ; 



234 the people's histoey of pkesbyteeianism. 

now it is the language of one -fourth. At the begin- 
ning of the present century the population of the 
United States was about 5,000,000. Now (1888) it is 
at least 60,000,000. There has been a similar growth 
of the population of Great Britain and its colonies, 
while the increase in population on the continent of 
Europe, in Roman Catholic countries, has been com- 
paratively small. It is a striking fact, too, that the 
traveller through Europe sees very few new Roman 
Catholic churches. There are thousands of old ones, 
many of them decaying, some that have stood unfinish- 
ed for scores or hundreds of years, and are crumbling 
with age. But Protestantism is building hundreds of 
new churches, not only in America and in heathen coun- 
tries, but all over Roman Catholic Europe, and in the 
"Eternal City," in sight of the Vatican itself. 

A greater enemy than Rome threatens evangelical 
Christendom. It is the spirit of worldliness, the grad- 
ual dissipation of the Holy Sabbath, and the introduc- 
tion of loose views of doctrine into the churches. Our 
fight is not so much for religious liberty as for the 
perpetuity of the fourth commandment and the inspi- 
ration of the Scriptures. In this conflict may we 
members of the great Protestant sisterhood stand 
shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart, and may God 
give us the promised baptism of the Holy Ghost from 
Heaven, without which our doctrines and organizations 
are all in vain, like vast machinery without power. 

It is not claiming too much to say that the Sabbath 
and the inspiration of the Scriptures have no stronger 
defender than the Presbyterian Churches in America 
and throughout the world. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Universal Presbyterianism. 

THE "Alliance of the Reformed Churches through- 
out the World holding the Presbyterian System "■ 
was formed in London July 21, 1875, by a number of 
ministers and elders representing the Presbyterian and 
Reformed Churches of America, the United Kingdom 
of Great Britain and Ireland, the British colonies, and 
the continent of Europe. An organization was effected, 
and a constitution adopted, as follows : 

Constitution of the Alliance. 

" Whereas churches holding the Reformed faith, and 
organized on Presbyterian principles, are found, though 
under a variety of names, in different parts of the world ; 
whereas many of these were long wont to maintain close 
relations, but are at present united by no visible bond, 
whether of fellowship or of work ; and whereas, in the 
providence of God, the time seems to have come when 
they may all more fully manifest their essential oneness, 
have closer communion with each other, and promote 
great causes by joint action; it is agreed to form a 
Presbyterian Alliance, to meet in general council from 
time to time, in order to confer upon matters of com- 
mon interest, and to further the ends for which the 
church has been constituted by her Divine Lord and 

235 



236 the people's history 

only King. In forming this Alliance the Presbyterian 
churches do not mean to change their fraternal relations 
with other churches, but will be ready, as heretofore, 
to join with them in christian fellowship, and in ad- 
vancing the cause of the Redeemer, on the general 
principle maintained and taught in the Reformed Con- 
fessions, that the Church of God on earth, though com- 
posed of many members, is one body in the communion 
of the Holy Ghost, of which body Christ is the Supreme 
Head, and the Scriptures alone are the infallible law. 

"Articles. 

"I. Designation. — This Alliance shall be known as 
'The Alliance of the Reformed Churches throughout 
the World holding the Presbyterian system.' 

"II. Membership. — Any church organized on Pres- 
byterian principles, which holds the supreme authority 
of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments in 
matters of faith and morals, and whose creed is in har- 
mony with the consensus of the Reformed Confessions, 
shall be eligible for admission into the Alliance. 

"III. The Council: 

" 1. Its Meetings. — The Alliance shall meet in general 
council ordinarily once in three years. 

"2. Its Constituency. — The council shall consist of 
delegates, being ministers and elders, appointed by the 
churches forming the Alliance, the number from each 
church being regulated by a plan sanctioned by the 
council, regard being had generally to the number of 
congregations in the several churches. The delegates, 
as far as practicable, to consist of an equal number of 
ministers and elders. The council may, on the recom- 






OF PEESBYTEKIANISM. 237 

mendation of a committee on business, invite Presbyte- 
rian brethren, not delegates, to offer suggestions, to de- 
liver addresses, and to read papers. 

"3. Its Powers. — The council shall have power to 
decide upon the application of churches desiring to join 
the Alliance ; it shall have power to entertain and con- 
sider topics which may be brought before it by any 
church represented in the council, or by any member of 
the council, on their being transmitted in the manner 
hereinafter provided ; but it shall not interfere with the 
existing creed or constitution of any church in the Al- 
liance, or with its internal order or external relations. 

" 4. Its Objects. — The council shall consider questions 
of general interest to the Presbyterian community; it 
shall seek the welfare of churches, especially such as 
are weak and persecuted ; it shall gather and dissemi- 
nate information concerning the kingdom of Christ 
throughout the world ; it shall commend the Presbyte- 
rian system as scriptural, and as combining simplicity, 
efficiency, and adaptation to all times and conditions ; 
it shall also entertain all subjects directly connected 
with the work of evangelization, such as the relation of 
the christian church to the evangelization of the world, 
the distribution of mission work, the combination of 
church energies, especially in reference to great cities 
and destitute districts, the training of ministers, the use 
of the press, colportage, the religious instruction of the 
young, the sanctification of the Sabbath, systematic 
beneficence, the suppression of intemperance, and other 
prevailing vices, and the best methods of opposing in- 
fidelity and Eomanism. 

"5. Its Methods. — The council shall seek to guide 

20 



238 the people's history 

and stimulate public sentiment by papers read, by ad- 
dresses delivered and published, by the circulation of 
information respecting the allied churches and their 
missions, by the exposition of scriptural principles, and 
by defences of the truth ; by communicating the minutes 
of its proceedings to the supreme courts of the churches 
forming the Alliance, and by such other action as is in 
accordance with its constitution and objects. 

" 6. Committee on Business. — The council, at each 
general meeting, shall appoint a Committee on Business, 
through which all communications and notices of sub- 
jects proposed to be discussed shall pass. The com- 
mittee appointed at one general meeting shall act pro- 
visionally, so far as is necessary, in preparing for the 
following meeting. 

" IV. Change of Constitution. — No change shall be 
made in this constitution, except on a motion made at 
one general meeting of council, not objected to by a 
majority of the churches, and carried by a two-thirds 
vote at the next general meeting." 

The first general council met in Edinburgh, Scotland, 
July 3, 1877. The subsequent meetings have been held 
at Philadelphia, in 1880 ; at Belfast, in 1884 ; and 
another is to take place in London July, 1888. 

This alliance has already done great good, in mass- 
ing the forces of our common Presbyterianism, creating 
a universal esprit du corps, and in enlisting the strong 
for the assistance of the weak. It is an encourage- 
ment to the Waldensian, Bohemian and French 
pastors, whose churches have been so cruelly oppressed 
and straitened, to come to the meetings of this confed- 
eration of brethren of like faith, and feel the strength 



OF PBESBYTERIANISM. 239 

of a vast organization. They return to their homes 
with a new inspiration and hope. This is worth more 
to them than the gifts of money that have been made 
to some of them through the medium of the Alliance, 
to aid them in their work. But are not the members 
of the younger and stronger benefitted by contact with 
these children of time-honored churches ? It is a priv- 
ilege to grasp the hand of a Huguenot, a Bohemian, 
a Swiss, or a Waldensian pastor. It is like touch- 
ing a line that leads back to the days when, through 
persecution and blood, their heroic predecessors made 
possible the blessings which we now. enjoy. We are 
prone to forget the past and to ignore the lessons of 
history ; but it cannot be so when we sit in the same 
assembly with men from the venerable churches of 
Holland, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Eng- 
land, Scotland, Bohemia and Hungary. 

Principally through the agency of this Alliance we 
have been able to gather reliable reports and statistics 
of the Presbyterian family, whose members are dis- 
tributed among many nations. 

Comparative Statistics of the Principal Protestant Denomina- 
tions in the Whole World. 

Communicants. Adherents. 

Presbyterians 8,894,546 35,578,184 

Lutherans (general statistics unattainable). 

Methodists 5,849,371 23,397,484 

Episcopalians (estimated) 21,000,000 

Baptists 3,313,026 13,252,104 

Congregationalists 896,742 3,586,968 

The number of adherents is obtained by multiplying 
the number of communicants by four, though many de- 



240 the people's history 

nominations multiply by five. The former, the more 
moderate estimate, is nearer the truth. It is impossible 
to gather accurate statistics of the Episcopal Church 
elsewhere than in America. The above estimate is 
from a high authority of the Church of England. 
Neither can the members of the Lutheran Church 
throughout the world be determined with certainty. 
The Lutheran churches of Europe sustain such involved 
relations to the various state governments and to the 
other denominations, and their statistics are so incom- 
plete, that it is out of the question to attempt to form 
anything more than a guess as to their real strength. 
They are believed to be next in numbers after the 
Presbyterians, to whom they are more nearly allied 
than to any others. 

To show that these are fair and moderate estimates, 
the testimony of the Eev. James McCosh, D. D., LL. D., 
late President of Princeton College, given sixteen years 
ago, is added in corroboration of our statistics. 

In a paper read at the John Knox "Tercentenary" 
celebration, in Philadelphia, on " Presbyterianism in 
the World," Dr. McCosh said : 

"It is reckoned that if you sum up these churches 
(just referred to by him, in foreign lands), and then add 
to them those in America, they amount to twenty thou- 
sand congregations, and a population of thirty-four mil- 
lions. If you add the Lutherans, who, in many parts 
of Germany, are one with the Eeformed, and who are 
nearer to Presbyterianism than they are either to Epis- 
copacy or Independency, we have a population of fifty- 
five out of one hundred and seven millions of Protes- 



OF PEESBYTEEIANISM. 241 

tants, or an actual majority of the Protestants of the 
world." 

Since these words were written, Presbyterianism has 
passed through the best decade and a half of its whole 
history. 

The numbers of communicants in the Baptist and 
Methodists churches are taken from the "Year Books" 
of the two denominations. The Methodist statistics 
included the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, who really 
belong to the Presbyterian Church, and are members of 
the " Alliance of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches." 
So< 133,797, the number of communicants in that body, 
had to be deducted from their statement. In the Metho- 
dist Year Book for 1888, the number of adherents is 
obtained by multiplying the number of communicants 
by five. That rule would bring the Presbyterian adhe- 
rents up to 44,472,730. In the above table the rule of 
multiplying by four is applied to all denominations 
mentioned in it, and, of course, is fair ; for if they were 
multiplied by five they would all be raised in the same 
ratio. These statistics show that the Presbyterian is 
by far the largest Protestant Church on the globe. 



CHAPTEK XXVIII. 

The Spirit of Presbyterianism. 

WE have followed the history of Presbyterianism 
through a course of many centuries; have 
looked upon its origin, development, sufferings, defeats 
and victories ; and have taken a survey of its present 
condition and prospects. The attentive reader cannot 
fail to have seen that the spirit of Presbyterianism, as 
exemplified in its fruits, is that of the broadest catho- 
licity as well as love of the truth. 

Truth, and man, for God, is its motto. The tendency 
of its operations has been to liberate men from super- 
stition, to give them a thirst for knowledge and for 
liberty. It is the mother of republicanism in church 
and state. America, and Great Britain with its world- 
encircling colonial system, would not have been what 
they are to-day but for Presbyterianism, in Italy, 
Switzerland, France, Holland and Scotland. Know- 
ledge and liberty dwell together, and they have come 
largely from the influence in past ages, of that heaven- 
born principle of which this book is a history. 

The world owes to Presbyterianism a debt it does 

not feel, and one it can never repay. Comparatively 

few of the millions of men who enjoy the inestimable 

blessings of civil and religious liberty care to inquire 

242 



THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF PRESBYTEEIANISM. 243 

whence they came, or stop to think how different 
might have been their lot but for the sacrifices of those 
who lived long ago, and whose names are oft forgotten. 
But those who do study causes and effects in the affairs 
of men, and who follow trains of events back to their 
origin, will come to render honor where it is due. The 
philosophy of truth is written in the annals of man- 
kind ; its principles are outlined forever in the profile of 
history ; and there always will be seers who will interpret 
to men the lessons of the past. Therefore there is no 
danger that the great doctrines and polity that cluster 
around the Presbyterian name will ever be forgotten. 
We behold in the Presbyterian Church a glorious ben- 
efactor of mankind in all ages ; but it is not enfeebled. 
It is stronger than ever. We believe that the future 
has for it as great a work as the past has had, and we 
sons of a noble church are proud of our mother. 

Does the Presbyterian Church despise its sisters, or 
claim to be the only Church of Christ ? No ; if it did 
it would be a contradiction of its very genius and spirit. 
It acknowledges all God's people as brothers, and all 
evangelical churches as equals, inviting their ministers 
into its pulpits, receiving them into our ministry with- 
out reordination, and welcoming their members to a 
communion table which it claims not as its own, but 
the sacred meeting place of all christians for fellowship 
with one another, and with their common Lord. This 
book will have been written in vain if its perusal should 
foster a spirit of narrow sectarianism. But if it serve 
the purpose for which it is designed, it will tend 
to make Presbyterians who read it love their own 
church more, and at the same time look upon the 



244 the people's history 

world and all the church of God with a broader chris- 
tian sympathy. 

"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; 
bnt the greatest of these is Charity." 



PRESBYTERIAN CHRONOLOGY. 
A. D. 387. Augustine, pastor of Hippo, baptized. 

1415. John Huss burnt at Constance. 

1536. Calvin published bis Institutes. 

1628. First Reformed Church established in New Amsterdam 
(New York). 

1560. First General Assembly met at Edinburgh. 

1564. Death of John Calvin. 

1572. John Knox died. 

1638, National Covenant signed in Greyfriars Churchyard, Edin- 
burgh. 

1643. Westminster Assembly convened at the Abbey. 

1648. Confession of Faith and Catechisms sanctioned by Parlia- 
ment. 

1679, Battle of Bothwell Bridge. Covenanters defeated. 

1682. Francis Makemie came to America, and settled in Mary- 
land. 

1685. Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. 

1688. Restoration of Episcopal Church of England and Ireland. 

1705. First Presbytery organized at Philadelphia. 

1706. First recorded ordination to the ministry in United States, 

at Freehold, New Jersey ; John Boyd the candidate. 
1717. The Synod of Philadelphia organized. 
1727. Log College, the mother of Princeton, founded. 
1734. Great awakening under Jonathan Edwards. 
1730. Movement headed by "Whiteiield. 
1745. Synod divided. 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 245 

1758. Synods of New York and Philadelphia reunited. 

1775. Mecklenburg resolutions adopted. 

1776. John Witherspoon in Congress. 
1788. General Assembly organized. 

1837. The Church divided into two parts, called Old School and 
New School. 

1861. Separation of the Church into Northern and Southern Di- 
visions. 

1869. Reunion of Old and New Schools, at Pittsburgh, Novem- 
ber 10th. 

1875. Organization of Alliance of Reformed Churches through- 
out the world holding the Presbyterian System. 



BOTES AND STATISTICS 



or 



THE REFORMED CHURC II E S 

THROUGHOUT THE WORLD 

Holding the Pklsbyteeian System. 



NOTES. 

General Survey of the Presbyterian Churches Throughout 
the World. 

{'Amended from the report of the third General Council.*) 

Reformed Church in Austria. — In the Austrian empire a 
group of Reformed congregations, locally associated, forms 
a Senioratus or Presbytery. The moderator of the Seniora- 
tus is called "senior," and is elected for six years by the 
church sessions of the bounds, but the election must be rati- 
fied by the provincial government. The senior has associated 
with him a con-senior, or vice-senior, and also a seniorate- 
curator, or presiding elder. All the seniorates of the pro- 
vince form the superintendential-convenlus, or Provincial 
Synod. The moderator of this body is called the superin- 
tendent, and is elected for life by the church sessions of the 
whole province, but the election must be confirmed by the 
emperor himself. There is a superintendent-curator also a 
vice-superintendent, who are appointed for six years by the 
Provincial Synod. This body meets triennially, and is com- 
posed of the superintendent, the vice-superintendent, and the 
superintendential-curator, the seniors of the province, with 
their curators, and a few delegates, ministers, and elders in 
equal numbers, from the Seniorates. 

The general Synod represents the whole Reformed Church, 
for the government regards the churches in the provinces of 
Austria, Bohemia, and Moravia, not as distinct and inde- 
pendent churches, but as branch organizations in each pro- 
vince of the one Reformed Church. This General Synod 



* Great praise is due Rev. G. 1). Matthews, D. D., of Quebec, Canada, 
secretary of the Alliance, for his unremitting and disinterested dili- 
gence in gathering information and statistics from all the churches 
composing the Alliance. — R. P. K. 

24Q 



250 the people's history 

meets every sixth year, and is composed of 23 persons — 12 
ministers and 11 elders — as follows: the superintendent of 
the Austrian church (German), with his curator; the Ee- 
formed theological professor in Vienna ; two deputies elected 
by the Provincial Synod of Austria ; the superintendent and 
four seniors of the Bohemian Church, with their respective 
curators ; the superintendent and two seniors of the Mora- 
vian Church, with their curators, with the senior of Galicia 
and his curator. Before taking Ins seat, each member must 
solemnly declare: " I promise in the presence of God, in 
my capacity as a member of this Synod, to seek the inner 
and outward welfare of the Evangelical Church Helvetic 
Confession, according to my best judgment and conscience, 
and to aim at the church's growing into Him ivho is the 
Head, Christ." 

This General Synod is somewhat anomalous in its charac- 
ter. The lay-members, the curators, are elected by the Pro- 
vincial Synods, but the ecclesiastical members (superinten- 
dents and seniors) are there in virtue of their office. Should 
any of these be absent, their places are occupied by their re- 
spective deputies. 

The General Synod, while largely an advisory body, pos- 
sesses, however, certain powers. If the government, repre- 
sented by the cidtus-ministerium, has a veto on its actions, 
the Synod can decline to comply with the wishes of the gov- 
ernment. Thus in 1877, the General Synod desired to divide 
itself into a German General Synod meeting in Vienna, and 
a Bohemian and Moravian General Synod, with an Ober- 
ldrchenrath for itself, meeting in Prague. The cultus-min- 
isterium vetoed the proposal, which then fell to the ground. 
At the same meeting the Oberkichenrath, representing the 
cultus-ministerium, proposed a new Book of Discipline. This 
the Synod declined to discuss, and so, it in turn fell to 
the ground. The General Synod can consider all matters 
brought before it by the provincial Synods, by congregations 
or by church members. Many of these questions concern 
polity, as the church is working her way to a thoroughly 
Presbyterian system of government. 

Each General Synod elects a Synodal committee, to repre- 
sent the church during the ensuing six 3'ears, or until the 
next General Synod. 

Above this General Synod, or its Synodal committee, is the 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 251 

" Oberkirchenrath" the medium through which the cultus- 
ministerium deals with the church. The full title of this 
body is, " The Imperial Royal Evangelical Tipper Ecclesi- 
astical Council of the Augustine and Helvetic Confessions 
in Vienna" and, naturally, it possesses very great influence 
in church matters. All its members are, however, appointed 
by the Emperor, and as the church has no voice in their ap- 
pointment, she is now earnestly seeking its abolition. As 
this council has to deal with all Protestants, it is divided into 
two sections, one having charge of matters affecting the 
Lutheran Church, and the other of matters affecting the 
Reformed Church. The president of the council is a layman, 
and is chairman of both sections. The limits and nature of 
the relations of the Oberkirchenrath to the church have not 
yet been fully defined, but it may be said, in general, that 
the Oberkirchenrath represents the church to the state, and 
the state to the church. The state declares its claim in rela- 
tion to the church to be simply "jits circa sacra," but there 
is no security against the authorities trespassing "intra 
sacra." Sometimes these have done so, though as magis- 
trates of the state, they have acted illegally in so doing. 
For instance, a vacant parish elects a pastor. The senior, 
the superintendent, and the Oberkirchenrath bring the elec- 
tion before the provincial government. All of these ecclesi- 
astical authoritities approve of the choice, but the veto of the 
provincial government renders the election null and void, and 
resort must be had to a new election. The Oberkirchenrath 
may, therefore, formally appoint pastors to the parishes, but 
it is the government of Austria that does so actually. The 
state does not consciously interfere in matters of faith, but 
sometimes the church regards as a matter of faith that which 
the state regards as only a matter of outward constitution 
and administration. 

Over the Oberkirchenrath is the " cidtus-ministerium" or 
that department of the general government of the empire 
which takes the oversight of all matters affecting the recog- 
nized churches, concerning itself in the public worship and 
education. — Ministerium fur Cidtus und TInterricht. 

The phrase "recognized churches" may need explanation. 

In accordance with the political system of the European 
continent, all societies or associations within a particular king- 
dom are subject to the supervision of the government, and 



252 the people's history 

illegal unless explicitly authorized. Hence religious socie- 
ties require the sanction of the state before they can exist 
legally or carry out their special objects. The Austrian gov- 
ernment, which is willing to "recognize" all suitable parties 
entitled to it, recognizes as churches with the right of public 
worship, the Roman Catholic, the Greek Catholic, the Arme- 
nian, the Greek Oriental, the Lutheran, the Reformed, the 
Moravian, the Jewish, and, since the occupation of Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, and in the army especially, the Mohamme- 
dan faiths. All other denominations are treated, in terms of 
the Association law ( Vereinsgeset), as Societies, and are al- 
lowed to hold only private services. 

These services may be attended by the police, and can be 
held legally, except in the case of family worship, only when 
intimation has been previously given to the authorities. 

None but adults and invited persons are allowed to attend 
such meetings, and the invitations must be given to these 
individually and by special cards, not by general placards or 
public notices. Private services can at any time be stopped 
if no notice has been given previously to the magistrate, or 
if any other requirements of the Association law have been 
disregarded. 

Under the existing laws, the amount of religious liberty 
enjoyed in Austria is not inconsiderable, but its advent is so 
recent that all the magistrates have not yet realized its pre- 
sence. The law, indeed, is often better than its practice, so 
that much depends on the amount of knowledge possessed 
by an injured party as to the proper mode of obtaining re- 
dress. Hitherto the highest courts in the state have generally 
sustained the appeals taken against decisions that were not 
in accordance with the really liberal Association laws. 

The Reformed Church in the province of Austria is a Ger- 
man church, having its congregations in the cities of Vienna, 
Laybach, Bregenz, and Trieste. 

The Bohemian Church has four Seniorates — Caslav, 
Prague, Podebrad, and Chrudim. It has under its care a 
college for training teachers, with three professors and forty 
students. There are also in connection with it forty-two con- 
gregational day-schools, with forty-nine teachers and nearly 
four thousand pupils. 

The Moravian Church has two Senitorates — Eastern and 



OF PKESBYTERIA.NISM. 253 

Western. The Lord's Supper is generally observed four 
times a year. 

The Hungarian Church has five superintendences of 
Provincial Synods — Trans-Danubian (Komorn) Cis-Danubian 
(Buda Pest) Trans-Theissian (Debreczen), Cis-Theissian 
(Miskolcz), and the Transylvanian (Klausenburg) — with min- 
isters and elders, members in equal numbers. These super- 
intendencies are independent of each other, and have existed 
since the Reformation. 

The church session is called the /ionsistorium, whose 
moderator is the minister, assisted by the curator — one of 
the elders having charge of the temporal affairs of the con- 
gregation. Congregations are grouped together according 
to the limits of the Seniorates or church counties. Of the 
pastors of the congregation in each county a specific num- 
ber are elected — known as assessors — to form the Senior ate 
or Presbytery, which has always its two presidents — the 
senior and curator. The senior is always, and the curator 
sometimes, chosen for life. Every pastor has a right to 
attend the Seniorate meeting, and to speak, but the assessors 
alone vote. A group of Seniorates form a superinteivdency, 
whose Assembly, or General Convent, resembles a Provincial 
Synod. Its members, however, consist only of delegates 
from the Seniorates, along with the superintendent or mod- 
erator and the general curator. Both these latter are 
elected to their office by the vote of all the congregations in 
the superintendency, and hold office for life. Sometimes 
the superintendent is styled " Episcopus," but he is so in the 
Presbyterian sense of being primus inter pares. He is 
also the medium of communication between the government 
and the church. 

The Hungarian Church has in connection with its con- 
gregations 1,602 elementary day schools, but in which re- 
ligious instruction is regularly given ; 2,451 teachers with 
182,993 pupils.' 

In 1882 the Hungarian Church adopted a constitution by 
which the General Asssmbly consists of delegates, 94 
being elected by church sessions, and 12 being repre- 
sentatives of the colleges. All her various office-bearers are 
now chosen by the people, except the superintendent of 
Transylvania,, who, in virtue of old laws, is appointed by the 



254 the people's histoky 

Emperor. The Austrian Emperor must still, however, sanc- 
tion church legislation before it is valid. 

The Missionary Christian Church of Belgium has 
three eonseils sectio?i?iaries, or Presbyteries, meeting in one 
annual Synod, which is composed of a minister and elder 
from each congregation, and the members of the executive 
committee. Each pastor or evangelist in charge of a station 
is also a member of the Synod, but without a vote. No 
member can take his seat until he has accepted the Belgic 
Confession of Faith, The Synod appoints annually an ex- 
ecutive committee, with a general secretary, to whom is 
entrusted the oversight of the work of the church. 

The Belgian " Union of Evangelical Christians " con- 
sists of a number of congregations, Walloons, Germans, and 
French, all receiving, in part, support from the state. 

The Walloon Churches. — There are in Holland a num- 
ber of Walloon congregations, founded by Protestants 
driven from the Walloon provinces of Belgium in the 
time of Charles Y. These congregations were assisted for 
a time by the Huguenots that fled from France on the 
revocation of the edict of Nantes. The greater part of 
these, however, ultimately became merged in the Holland 
population, and have aided in building up the Dutch Be- 
formed Church so that only about seventeen Walloon 
congregations exist at the present. 

The Reformed Church of France has twenty-one Provin- 
cial Synods, consisting of the ministers and elders of each 
five Consistories or Presbyteries. 

According to the decree of 1st December, 1871, re-estab- 
lishing the Synods of the Keformed Church, each Consistory 
(Presbytery) was to be represented by one minister and one 
elder in the Synod of its group. By this delegated S} r nod 
delegates were to be chosen who should form the National 
Synod, in the proportion of one delegate for each six pastors ; 
these delegates to be ministers and elders in equal numbers. 
This National Synod met in 1872 (the last previous S}mod 
had met in 1660, under the presidency of the illustrious 
Daille, adjourning to meet within three years), when the 
doctrinal differences existing in the church at once led to the 
formation of two well-defined parties, the Liberals and the 
Evangelicals. 

As the Liberal party does not recognize either the ail- 






OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 255 

thority or the necessity for the existence of a General Synod 
{Synode Officiel), such a meeting cannot at present be held. 
The Evangelical section has, therefore, organized a system 
of /Synods Officienx, through which the work and oversight 
of their congregations are carried on. These Synods have 
no legal authority, while connection with them or submission 
to their enactments is entirely voluntary. In the meantime 
they are rendering invaluable services to the church, and in- 
creasing rapidly in influence and number of members. 

There are in France 520 civil parishes, of which it is com- 
puted that 380 unite in these Synodes Officieuses, while there 
are some 120 other congregations, all of which also adhere. 
The larger number of these latter' congregations are aided 
by the Socitite Centrals cV Evangelisation. Of the 690 min- 
isters in actual service, about 500 adhere to the Synodes 
Officieuses. 

Union of the I<ree Evangelical Congregations of France. 
— The Synod meets every second year, and deliberates on the 
several interests of the churches. It receives a report from 
every church; administers by committees the Christian 
operations of which it has charge ; it has a central fund for 
the general expenses of the church and the aid of the poorer 
congregations ; it regulates the theological studies of aspir- 
ants to the ministry; holds fellowship with other churches 
in France and out of it; appoints delegates to visit the 
churches j-early, and adjudicates on difficult questions which 
the churches concerned have voluntarily submitted to it, and 
appoints a synodal commission for executive purposes dur- 
ing the interval of its meetings. 

The students are sent to the Oratoire of Geneva, or to the 
Faculte Libre of Lausanne. Their number varies from ten 
to twelve, and they are supported while studying by the 
Commission des Etudes. 

Free Evangelical Church of Germany consists of a single 
Presbytery. This is composed of one minister and one elder 
from each congregation and one eider for the Diaspora. It 
meets twice each year, possessing two congregations in Si- 
lesia and one in Bohemia. This church is a secession from 
the state church of Prussia that took place in 1860. The 
Bohemian congregation consists chiefly of converted Roman- 
ists. 

Reformed Synodical Union of the East Rhine consists of 



256 THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY 

one Presbytery, called a Synod. This Bavarian: Reformed 
Synod uses the Heidelberg Cathechism as its doctrinal sym- 
bol, while the French churches at Erlangen, Wilhemsdorf, 
and Schwabach use in addition the Rochelle Confession and 
the French Discipline. 

The names of the parishes are the French Reformed 
church of Erlangen, with annex of German Reformed 
church of Erlangen ; Reformed Church of Nuremberg, with 
annex of Schwabach ; Reformed churches of Baireuth, 
Gronenbach and Herbishofen in Suabia, and of Marien- 
heim on the Danube. 

Synod of the United Hanoverian Church consists of 
120 congregations. 

The Waldensian Church consists, strictly speaking, of 
the seventeen parishes in the valleys, all the other congre- 
gations in Italy being the result of evangelistic work and 
standing on a different footing. The Synod meets annually 
in September, and is composed of all the ministers on the 
roll, two lay deputies from each of the seventeen parishes 
and the lay members of the different church committees. 
There are no Presbyteries, properly so called, but in their 
place are five District Conferences, held annually in the 
mission field, with two Free Conferences in the valleys. 
The government of the church is Presbyterian, there being 
Sessions, Conferences, Synod or Synodal Commission or 
Table, with the peculiarity that only the male communi- 
cants over twenty-five years of age are reckoned as members 
of the church. 

Attention has lately been called to the Reformed Church 
of the Orisons (Rhetica Confessio, 1558), and more es- 
pecially to that portion of it which consists of Italian con- 
gregations. These are six in number, with nearly 3,000 
members, and while tracing back their history only to the 
Reformation, yet as the Reformed doctrine came to them 
not from the Swiss or the German movement, but from the 
Italian, their sympathies are strongly with the Waldensian 
Church. For an interesting sketch of these congregations, 
see Catholic Presbyterian, December, 1883. 

The Free Christian Church in Italy is the fruit of a 
variety of agencies and labors. It has no Presbyteries, 
but holds an annual General Assembly, composed of from 
one to three delegates from each congregation. 



OF PKESBYTERIANISM. 257 

The Christian Reformed Church of the Netherlands has 
ten annual Assemblies or Provincial Synods, with one 
triennial General Synod, composed of seventy-four persons 
■ — two ministers and two elders from each Assembly and 
four deputies. 

The average number of elders is four in each congrega- 
tion. The Consistory or Session takes charge also of the 
temporal affairs of the congregation, one of their number 
called the Kerh raad acts as trustee and takes charge of 
the church buildings. 

The Old Reformed Church of Bentheim and East- 
Friesland consists of one Presbytery, composed of the min- 
ister and elder from each congregation (two elders if there 
be no pastor). Five of the congregations are in Bentheim 
and four in East-Friesland. 

This church is a secession from the national church, and 
is in friendly relations with the Christian Reformed Church, 
to whose mission agencies it contributes. 

The Spanish Christian Church has two Presbyteries — 
Madrid and Seville — with a General Assembly consisting 
of a moderator, president, vice-president, two vocals and a 
general permanent secretary. 

The Reformed Churches of Switzerland. — The whole 
population of Switzerland in 1880 was 2,846,102, of which 
number there were 1,160,782 Roman Catholics, also 10,838 
adherents of minor sects, and 7,373 Jews. The adherents 
of the Reformed Church numbered 1,667,109, a majority of 
the whole population. By far the greater part of the Re- 
formed belong to churches established by the government, 
though there are free churches in Geneva, Vaud and Neu- 
chatel. The details of church life are regulated by the 
local authorities of each canton, or state, in the Republic, 
subject to a federal constitution adopted in 1874, to which 
all the cantons are required to conform. Perfect liberty of 
conscience is guaranteed to all, and no one is called upon to 
pay taxes to support a church to which he does not belong. 
All religions are allowed free exercise, within the limits of 
public order and morality. The Jesuits are forbidden to 
enter the cantons, on the ground that they are inimical to 
the peace of the Republic, The worship of the Reformed 
churches is characterized by extreme plainness and simpli- 



258 the people's history 

city. The people are, as a rule, intelligent, thrifty and 
moral. 

Tlie Presbyterian Church of England has one Synod, 
meeting annually in April, and composed of all ministers in 
charge, pastors emeriti, foreign missionaries of the church, 
the theological professors, the general secretary, with a rep- 
resentative elder from each congregation. 

The report of the Statistical Committee of the English 
Presbyterian Synod states that the church consisted in 1886 
of 286 congregations and 61, 781 communicants, giving an 
average of 216 each. In 1876 there were 258 congregations 
and 50,739 was the number of communicants, or an average 
of 196 each. Most of the congregations had large and com- 
modious buildings, and many also had schools and manses, 
freeholds and leaseholds, and they were insured for the col- 
lective amount of £940,000. There were debts upon them 
amounting in all to £102,939, as against £108,310 in 1885. 
The number of communicants admitted for the first time in 
1886 was 3,600, compared with 4,171 in the previous year ; 
whilst the number lapsed, dead, and from other reasons re- 
moved from the roll was 3,569, against 3,724 in 1885. The 
church had, in 1886, 2,116 district visitors, 4,855 members 
of Dorcas societies, 7,210 Sabbath-school teachers, having 
charge of 75,794 scholars, 7,518 scholars in day-schools, 
4,625 members of young men's societies, and 7,583 mem- 
bers of the Bible classes. The total receipts of the church 
were £206,533. 

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
Ireland meets annually in June, and is composed of all min- 
isters having charges, and assistant ministers of congrega- 
tions, Assembly's professors being ministers, ordained mis- 
sionaries, and chaplains in the service of the church, and one 
elder from each congregation. 

The General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church 
in Ireland has four Presbyteries, Northern, Southern, East- 
er] i, and Western, with one General Synod composed of all 
ministers on the roll with or without charge, and one elder 
from each congregation. It has one congregation in Liver- 
pool and one in Geelong, Australia, and is in friendly corres- 
pondence with the Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church in the United States of America. 

The Eastern /Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 259 

in Ireland is in friendly correspondence with the General 
Synod of the Eeformed Presbyterian Church in North 
America. 

Synod of the Secession Church in Ireland meets in July, 
and co-operates in Foreign Mission work with the Original 
Secession Church in Scotland. 

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (Es- 
tablished) meets in May. There are 1,290 parish churches, 
with 153 others. The number of communicants is 515,786. 
There are 84 Presbyteries and 16 Synods. 

The Presbyterian principle of government by representa- 
tive assemblies is elaborated in a pyramidal system of ecclesi- 
tical courts, which have been models for nearly all Presbyte- 
rian churches in the English-speaking world. The impor- 
tance attached to these courts may be understood from a 
story about the Rev. Doctor Calamy, of London, and an old 
Scottish lady who was on a visit to the metropolis. She was 
urging upon Dr. Calamy the request, born of maternal soli- 
citude, that he would look after the spiritual welfare of her 
son, who had made his home in a place so benighted as Lon- 
don. "Why," said Calamy, "what is your fear? We in 
England have the same Scriptures as you have, we believe in 
the same Saviour, and we insist as much as you do upon all 
holy living." The old lady replied: "All that may be very 
true; but you have no Kirk sessions, Presbyteries, Synods, 
and General Assemblies." 

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, because 
of its relation to the state, has not only a moderator to pre- 
side over its deliberations, but a representative of the throne, 
called the Lord High Commissioner, who attends in his offi- 
cial capacity, accompanied by the pomp and circumstance of 
royalty. In addition to the commissioners sent to the Gene- 
ral Assembly by the Presbyteries, there are also representa- 
tives present from the universities and from the royal burghs, 
or ancient municipalities. 

Tlie General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland 
meets in May. It has 73 Presbyteries, 16 Synods, and 315,000 
communicants. The Assembly consists of 730 members, half 
being ministers and half ruling-elders, and all appointed by 
the Presbyteries. Each Presbytery returns one-third of its 
ministers, and an equal number of ruling- elders. The Free 
Church has the same creed, government, and worship, as the 



260 the people's histoey 

Established and United Presbyterian. Its ministers, elders, 
deacons, and probationers, subscribe the Confession of Faith, 
and they signify their approval of the general principles con- 
tained in the Claim of Eight of 1842, and Protest of Commis- 
sioners to the General Assembly in 1843. The temporal 
affairs of each congregation are managed by a body called 
"The Deacons' Court." This court is composed of the min- 
ister, the ruling elders, and a body of deacons, chosen, like 
the elders, by the members of the congregation. The spir- 
itual interests of each congregation are attended to by the 
kirk-session, consisting only of the minister and elders. 

The Synod of the United Presbyterian Church of Scot 
land. — The United Presbyterian Church has as its surbordi- 
nate standards, the Confession of Faith and Catechisms, 
with the same form of government and worship as the Estab- 
lished Church. Ministers, elders, and probationers give 
their adherence to the Westminster Confession and the 
Larger and Shorter Catechisms, with a reservation as to 
what " teaches, or is supposed to teach, compulsory or perse- 
cuting and intolerant principles in religion." The church 
has ruling-elders, sessions, and presbyteries, but instead of 
a General Assembly, its supreme court is a Synod, composed 
of the ministers having charges, and one elder from each ses- 
sion. The temporal affairs of each congregation are attended 
to by a body of managers chosen by the members. 

The Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of 
Scotland is composed of all ordained ministers and one elder 
from each congregation. It has 31 Presbyteries, and 176,297 
communicants. 

The Synod of the United Original Secession Church of 
Scotland has four Presbyteries in Scotland, and two in Ire- 
land, with a Synod composed of all ministers having charges 
and one elder from each congregation. 

The Calvi?iistic Methodist or Presbyterian Church of 
Wales has twenty-four Monthly Meetings (Presbyteries), and 
two Quarterly Associations (Synods), one for North Wales, 
consisting of 14 Presbyteries, and the other for South W T ales, 
with ten Presbyteries; each has power to decide an appeal 
on all questions within its own limits. 

The General Assembly meets annually, and is composed 
of representatives (two ministers and two elders) from each 
Presbytery, ex officii/ presidents, members of committees and 



OF PRESBYTEKIANISM. 261 

the officers of the two Quarterly Associations. As the church 
is not yet fully organized according to strict Presbyterian 
principles, and to some extent itinerancy continues to exist, 
it is impossible to say how many of the ministers reported as 
" in service " are in permanent charge of congregations. The 
majority of the Sabbath-school attendance consists of adults, 
so that nearly all the classes are Bible classes. 

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
United /States of America (Northern) meets annually, in 
May. Of its Synods some are general and others delegated 
bodies, and each, as a rule, conterminous with a particular 
state. The eldership is a life office, with term-service. 

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in the 
United States (Southern) meets annually, in May, and is com- 
posed of one minister and one elder from each Presbytery 
having fewer than twenty-five ministerial members, and dou- 
ble that number if more than twenty-four. There is no term- 
service for any of its officers. 

T/ie Reformed Church in America (formerly Dutch Re- 
formed) has one General Synod, meeting annually in June, 
and is composed of three ministers and three elders from 
each classis, nominated by the classis but elected by the par- 
ticular Synod. 

The Christian Reformed Church in the United States of 
America is a secession (in 1857) from the Reformed Church 
in America, and is in friendly relations with the Christian 
Reformed Church of Holland. 

General Synod of the Reformed Church in the United 
States (formerly German Reformed) meets triennially in 
May, while its Provincial (District) Synods, of the United 
States, of the Northwest, of the East and Central German, 
and of Ohio, Pittsburgh, and the Potomac (English speak- 
ing), meet annually. The eldership is a life office, but its 
incumbents serve for only two years. At the close of that 
term, they may be chosen again for service, but without 
ordination, by the congregation. When not in service, the 
Consistory may call them into its meetings for counsel. 

TJie General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of 
North America meets annually, in May, and consists of 
commissioners from Presbyteries in the ratio of one min- 
ister and one elder for each seven ministerial members of 



262 the people's history 

the Presbytery. This church has one Presbytery in 
Canada. 

The /Synod of the Associate Church is in friendly corres- 
pondence with the Original Secession Church of Scotland. 

The Synod of the Associate Reformed Church of the South 
meets annually, in October, and is composed of all ordained 
ministers, and one elder from each ministerial charge. It is 
in friendly relations with the United Presbyterian Church of 
North America. 

The General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian 
Church in North America meets annually, in May, and is 
composed of delegates from the Presbyteries. 

The Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the 
United States of North America meets annually, in May, and 
consists of all ordained ministers connected with the church, 
and one eider from each organized congregation. 

The General Assembly of the Welsh Calvinistic Metho- 
dist, or Presbyterian Church, IT. S., meets annually, in 
August, and consists of two ministers and two elders from 
each Synod, the ex-moderator, the treasurer and the secre- 
tary of the board of missions, and those appointed to read 
papers on prescribed subjects. 

This church stands in very intimate relations with the 
Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church of Great Britain. 

The General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church meets annually, in May, and consists of one minister 
and one elder from each Presbytery, and of two ministers 
and two elders if the Presbytery contains more than 
eighteen ministers. 

The Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in South 
Africa originated in Cape Colony, where it is still by 
statute recognized as the established church, though since 
1875 receiving no financial support from the state. For 
legal purposes, therefore, only the congregations in the col- 
ony form the Dutch Reformed Church, though, for all eccle- 
siastical purposes, the congregations in the other provinces 
of Natal, the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal are as- 
sociated with them in forming one church, with a Sjaiodical 
Commission, consisting of the moderator, the assessors, the 
actuaries, the scribe, and sixteen other members. 

The churches in the colonies of Cape Colony and Natal 
meet annually in a provincial Synod, while the four Presby- 



OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 263 

ieries (Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Ringsbes- 
turen,) of the Republic of Orange Free State also meet an- 
nually in a Synod composed of all the ministers and one elder 
from each congregation. 

The statistics include all those of the Synods or branches 
of the church in Cape Colony, Natal, the Orange Free State 
and the Transvaal. 

The Christian Reformed Church of South Africa is in 
ecclesiastical sympathy with the parent church in the Nether- 
lands. 

The Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church, Orange Free 
State, has four Classes or Presbyteries (North, South, East, 
and West), and one Synod, composed of all ordained minis- 
ters and one elder from each congregation. 

The Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Au- 
stralia meets annually, in October, and is composed of all 
pastors and one elder from each congregation, together with 
the theological professors. 

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
JVeio South Wales meets annually, in March, and consists of 
all ministers in charge, with one elder from each congrega- 
tion and the theological professors. 

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of 
Queensland meets annually, and consists of all ministers in 
charge, with one elder from each congregation. 

The Presbyterian Church of South Australia. 

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of 
Victoria meets annually in November, and consists of all 
ministers in charge, pastors emeriti, and one elder from each 
congregation. 

Presbytery of West Australia. 

Presbytery of Tasmania. 

Presbytery of the Free Church of Tasmania. 

An important movement has for some time been in pro- 
gress for the purpose of uniting all the sections of Presbyte- 
rianism in the Australian colonies into a federal, if not or- 
ganic, union. 

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
New Zealand meets annually in February, and consists of 
all ministers in charge, with one elder from each congrega- 
tion. 

The Synod of the Presbyterian Church in Otago and 



264 the people's history 

Southland meets annually, in January, and consists of all 
ministers in charge, pastors emeriti, the theological profes- 
sors, and one elder as representing each congregation, but 
who need not be a member of its session. 

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
Canada meets annually, in June, and consists of one-fourth 
of the ministerial members on the roll of the Presbytery and 
an equal number of elders. 

Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Canada in con- 
nexion ivith the Church of Scotland, and the Synod of the 
Church of Scotland in Nova Scotia, etc., etc., consists of 
congregations and ministers that did not concur in that union 
movement which resulted, in 1876, in the formation of the 
present Presbyterian Church in Canada. 

In Prince Edward Island there are, it is said, 8,000 people 
known locally as " Macdonaldites," adhering to the Church 
of Scotland. There is also one congregation in Cape Breton. 

The Synod of Jamaica is the first Presbyterian Church 
on mission ground that has become self-governing. The 
mission was commenced in 1824, and now, though still re- 
ceiving the larger part of its financial support and ministerial 
supply from the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, is 
independent of its control. It possesses a theological hall 
for the education of its own ministers, and has already sent 
several of these to the Old Calabar Mission in West Africa. 

Greece. — Dr. Kalopothakes, missionary for many years in 
Greece from the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
(Southern), has organized the fruits of his labors into "The 
Evangelical Church" — EAArjvtxr) Euayyehxt) ' ExxXrjGta. This 
body has been formed into a local Synod— To-ixr/ Suvodos — 
Presbyterian in constitution, and consists of three Greek or- 
dained evangelists, under the supervision of the American 
Presbyterian missionaries. There is one congregation at 
Athens, and there are three stations not yet organized as 
pastoral charges. There are in actual service five ministers, 
along with the two missionaries. The congregation at 
Athens has two elders and two deacons. There is one 
licentiate. There is one Sabbath-school at Athens, with sev- 
eral teachers. 

The Free Evangelical Church of Geneva is the result of 
the gradual growth of religious life and belief, more conserva- 
tive and biblical, than formerly existed in Geneva. It con- 






OF PRESBYTERIAN ISM. 265 

sists at present of a single Presbytery, with three congrega- 
tions, organized in accordance with our polity. 

Partial Poll of the Reformed Churches in Germany. 

Old Reformed Church in East Friesland and Bentheim.. 

United Reformed Church in the Province of Hanover, — 
113 congregations, with more than 50,000 adherents. 

Confederation of the Reformed Churches in Rower 
Saxony, independent of the state, — 7 congregations, with 
2,000 communicants. 

The Reformed Church of Bremen, — 4 large congregations 
in the city of Bremen, with several others in the districts of 
Viqeseck and Breiner-haven, under the control of the chief 
magistrate along with the chief ministers of the city, has 
50,000 adherents. 

The Reformed Church of the Princedom of Lippe- 
Detmold has 50 congregations, with 54 ministers and 200,- 
000 adherents, under the control of the Prince's Consistory 
at Detmold. 

The Reformed Church of Rower Hesse has more than 
200 congregations, under the control of the Royal Con- 
sistoiy at Cassel. These congregations have elders, but 
there are no Synods. 

Tlie Reformed Church in Westphalia has 70 congrega- 
tions in 7 groups, with 150,000 adherents, has elders and 
Synods, under the control of the Royal Consistory at 
M mister. 

The Reformed Synod of Wesel has four congregations, 
of Dutch and French origin. 

The Reformed Church in the Rhine Provinces has 150 
congregations, with 500,000 adherents, under the control of 
the Royal Consistory of Coblenz. These congregations, as 
well as those of Westphalia and in Prussia, have formed a 
union with the Lutherans, but without giving up their Re- 
formed Catechism, discipline or order. The Emperor and 
the Imperial family are themselves members of the Re- 
formed Church and adhere to its creed. The union in 
Prussia has not been absorbative, as it has been in other 
territories. 

The Reformed Church Confederation in the Province of 
Saxony has 10 congregations, 12 ministers, with elders and 



266 THE PEOPLE S HISTORY 

Sj-nods, under the control of the Koyal Consistory at 
Madgeburg. 

Tlie Reformed Church in Pomerania has 7 congregations, 
with 7 ministers, under the control of the Koyal Consistory 
at Stettin. 

The Reformed Churches in the Province of Silesia has 9 
congregations, with 11 ministers, under the control of the 
Koyal Consistory at Breslau. 

The Free Reformed Churches of Silesia. 

The Reformed Church of the Province of Prussia has 11 
congregations, 11 ministers, and possesses elders and 
Synods, under the control of the Eo}-al Consistory of 
Konigsburg and the superintendent of Tilsit. 

The Reformed Church in the Province of Brandenburg 
has more than 20 congregations, amongst them that of the 
Cathedral of Berlin, in which the Emperor and his family 
worship, under the control of the Koyal Consistory at Bran- 
denburg. 

The Church of the French Colony in the Province of 
Brandenburg has 12 congregations, 4 at Berlin, with elders 
and Synods, under the control of the Koyal Church Direc- 
tory at Berlin. 

The Reformed Churches of the Province of Posen • 5 
congregations; 6 ministers, under the control of the 
Seniorate at Posen. These churches are the remains of 
the TJnitas Fratrum Polonice et Bohemice. 

The Reformed Churches of Fast Bavaria are partly of 
French origin. There are 7 congregations and 7 ministers, 
with elders and Synods, under the control of the Koyal 
Protestant Consistory at MunicL. 

Two French Congregations, under the Landgraviate of 
Hesse-Homburg, at Frederickshof and East Homburg. 

Single congregations, without any relation to other Re- 
formed churches, are: The Reformed Churches at Altona, 
at Hamburg (a German and French one), at Accam in the 
territory of the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, at Frankfort on 
the Main (a German and a French one), at Leipsic, at Dres- 
den (two ministers to each of the two latter), at Hanau (a 
Dutch and a French one), at Elberfeld (a Dutch congrega- 
tion), at Biitzow, in the Grand Duchy of Mechlenburg, at 
Stuttgart, and at Osnabruck, the two latter being very poor, 
that of Osnabruck not having even a minister. 



OF PKESBYTERIANISM. 267 

The Reformed Churches of Heidelberg and within its- 
neighborhood. 

The Reformed Churches in the Bavarian Palatinate, con- 
sisting of four-fifths of the Protestant churches of this terri- 
tory. 

The Reformed Churches in the Nassau territory. 

The Reformed Churches in the Grand Duchy of Hesse- 
Darmstadt. 

The Reformed Churches in the Duchy of Anhcdt. 

The Reformed Churches in the Grand Duchy of Saxe 
Weimer. 

The Reformed Church in the Kingdom of Poland. — Ten 
congregations, with 6,000 adherents, a session in each con- 
gregation meeting in an annual Synod. 



PRESBYTERIAN AND KEFOKMED CHUECHES ON THE 
EUROPEAN CONTINENT. 

In the statistical returns of the Churches on the Continent given in 
the following Tables, it will be noticed that in cases where the num- 
bers of communicants and adherents are both given, the number of 
adherents is about one-third larger than the number of communicants ; 
therefore, in the few cases where only the adherents are given, it is 
thought fair to arrive at the numbers of communicants by subtracting 
one-third. In view of this it may be said that it is not fair to multiply 
the whole number of communicants throughout the world by four to 
get at the number of adherents; but we believe it is fair as to the gen- 
eral result, because in English-speaking countries the proportion be- 
tween communicants is at least that of one to four, and though the pro- 
portion on the continent of Europe is that of two to three in the reports 
to the Alliance, these reports are so incomplete, many churches not 
being reported at all, we are quite sure that to multiply the number of 
communicants reported by four will not produce as large a result as 
would be attained by such thorough statistical returns as we have from 
the churches in English-speaking countries. As the work of the Alli- 
ance progresses these defects will no doubt be remedied. 



268 



THE PEOPLE S HISTORY 



STATISTICAL KETUKNS 

FROM PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED CHURCHES THROUGH- 
OUT THE WORLD. 

Amended from the Report of the Third General Council, 1884, with ad- 
ditions to some of the returns of the Americam Churches, bringing them 
down to the year 1888. 



I 



EUROPEAN CONTINENT. 



^ f The ' ' General Synod of the 
•Is j Keformed Church in Aus- 
H< tria," consists of the first 
{^ four independent churches: 
Reformed Church in the Pro- 
vince of Austria, 

Reformed Church in the Pro- 
vince of Bohemia, 

Reformed Church in the Pro- 
vince of Moravia, 

Reformed and Evangelical 
Church of the Helvetic 

Confession, Hungary, 

Union of Evangelical Churches, 

Belgium, 

Missionary Christian Church, Bel- 
gium, 

The Walloon Church in Belgium 

and the Netherlands 

Reformed Church of France, 

Union of the Free Evangelical 

churches of France, 

Reformed Churches of Switzer- 
land, 

Reformed Churches of Germany, * 
Waldensian Evangelical Church,. 
Free Christian Church in Italy, ._ 
Reformed Church of the Nether- 
lands, :__ 

Christian Reformed Church of 

the Netherlands, 

Spanish Christian Church, 

Totals for European Continent, 



57 



105 



21 



441 

40' 
2 

265 



50 



1,980 1,980 



21 14 



640 



42 
32 

1,349 

379 
12 



4,604 



750 



S 3 

is 



6,058 
44,904 
23,780 

1,296,460 



3,923 



678,000 



70 
10 

1,600 

296 
15 



5,242 



833,554 

1,000,000 

16,484 

1,666 

1,394,302 

148,489 
3,000 

5,410,620 



* We are confident that these figures are far below the truth as to the strength of 
the Reformed Church in Germany. 



OF PRESBYTEEIANISM. 



269 



GREAT BRITAIN AND 
IRELAND. 

Presbyterian Church of England, 
Church of Scotland in England, _ 
Presbyterian Church in Ireland, . 
Reformed Presbyterian Church of 

Ireland, 

Eastern Reformed Presbyterian 

Church of Ireland, 

Secession Church of Ireland, __ 

Church of Scotland, 

Free Church of Scotland, 

United Presbyterian Church of 

Scotland, 

Reformed Presbyterian Church of 

Scotland, 

United Original Secession Church 

of Scotland, 

Calvinistic Methodist Church in 

Wales, 



Totals for G. Brit, and Ireland. 



UNITED STATES. 

Presbyterian Church in the United 

States of America, (Northern, ) 
Presbyterian Church in the United 

States, (Southern, ) 

Reformed Church in America, . 
Christian Reformed Church 

America, 

Reformed Church in the United 

States, 

United Presbyterian Church of 

North America, 

Associate Church of North Amer. 
Associate Reformed Church of the 

South, 

Reformed Presbyterian Church 

in North America, 

Reformed Presbyterian Church in 

the United States of N. Amer., 
Calvinistic Methodist or Welch 

Pres. Church in the U. S. , 

Reformed Presbyterian Presby- 
tery of Philadelphia, 



277 



201 

69 
33 



279 

20' 

554i 

36 



11 

1,442 
1,023 

557 

9 

39 

819 



4, 797 



6,437 

2,236 
547 

50 

1,481 

644 



I" 
O 



264 1 

*626j 

26 



61,781 

101^340 

4,734 



1,480 
1,091 

600 

7 
on 



4,7511 



5,654 

1,116 
547 



72 

48 
124 
175 



802 
730 



1,750 

515,786 
315,000 

176,299 

1.120 

5,500 

122,107 

1,305.417 



696,827 

150,398 
85,543 

6,800 

183,980 
91,086 



79 

37 

112 

84 



7,015 

6,800 

10,856 

9,563 



270 



THE PEOPLE S HISTOEY 



United States, continued. 


■S"g 


m 
•O 
o 
a 
>> 
w 


Congre- 
gations. 




Commu- 
nicants. 


Cumberland Presbyterian Church 
in America, 

Colored Cumberland Presbyterian, 


116 

579 

11 


27 


2,540 

500 


1,563 
200 

10,924 


145,146 
13,000 


Total for United States, 

BRITISH COLONIES AND 

DEPENDENCIES. 

Dutch Reformed Church in South 
Africa, 


97 
2 


14,854 
140 


1,407,014 


Christian Eeformed Church in 
South Africa, 






Dutch Reformed Church of the 
Orange Free State, 












Presbytery of Ceylon, 


1 

4 

11 

4 
1 

12 
4 


1 


9 

11 

89 

33 

19 

164 


6 

12 

95 

21 

12 

152 


645 


Presbyterian Church of Eastern 
Australia, N. S. W., 

Presbyterian Church of New South 
"Wales, 


273 
4,816 


Pres. Church of Queensland, _ . 




Presbytery of South Australia, 

Presbyterian Church of Victoria, 
Presbyterian Church of Jamaica, 
Presbytery of West Australia, _ 


1,515 

17,000 
8,405 










Presbyterian Church of Tasmania, 
Presbytery of the Free Church of 


2 

1 
7 

5 
36 

3 

2 


















Presby. Church of New Zealand, 

Presbyterian Church of Otago and 

Southland, 


1 

4 

1 
1 


84 

54 
799 

24 

14 


77 

53 
693 

15 

12 


15,000 
8,667 


Presbyterian Church in Canada, . 
Presbyterian Church of Canada in 

connection with the Church of 

Scotland, 


119,608 


Church o Scotland in Nova Scotia, 
New Brunswick, and the adjoin- 
ing provinces, 






Totals for British Colonies and 
Dependencies, . 


104 


10 


1,438 


1,148 


175,929 






Native converts in Mission 
Churches, 










65,566 














Grand Totals for the world, 


1225 


201 


25,693 


22,065 


8,894,546 



OP PKESBYTEEIANISM. 



271 



formed Mission Churches. 
Countries. 


CO 

8 

CD 




CO* 
P 

o 

Ph 
t3 


U. P. Ch., Scotland. 
Pres. Ch., North, U. S. 
Pres. Ch., North, U. S. 


1 
1 

„ 

6 


U. P. Ch., Scotland. 
Free Ch., Scotland. 
Free Ch. . Scotland. 
Ch. of Scotland. 


3 
o 
H 


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CM 1 OOt»^ 1 • 
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■gcB 

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hird General Coun 
t, in Non-Prote 


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Sab'tb 
School 
Atten- 
dance. 

1634 

620 
655 
230 




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INDEX. 



Address of General Assembly, of 
Confederate States, of America, 
to churches throughout the 

' world, 208. 

Africa, South, Reformed Churches 
of, 262, 263. 

Alliance of Presbyterian and Re- 
formed Churches, 235. 

Alva, Duke of, 97. 

American Presbyterianism after the 
war, 215. 

Antrim, Presbytery of, 160. 

Appomattox C. H., Virginia, 215. 

Argyle, Marquis of, 134. 

Arminius, 98. 

Associate Presbytery, 143. 

Associate Reformed Church, U. S. 
A., 187. 

Auburn Declaration, 193. 

Augusta. Georgia, 206. 

Augustine, Saint, 57. 

Austria Reformed Church of, 249. 

Australia, 164, 263. 

Barnes, Dr. Albert, 19 5. 
"Barrier Act," 129. 
Baxter, Richard, 153. 
Beaton, Cardinal, 108. 
Beecher, Dr. Lyman, 193. 
Belgium, Missionary Christian 

Church, 254. 
Belgium, Union of Evangelical 

Churches, 254. 
Belfast, 158. 

Berkeley, Sir William, 182. 
Bermuda Hundred 1 82 
Bohemia, 60. 

Bohemian Reformed Church, 252. 
Bowes, Marjory, 116 
Bovd, 184. 



Breckenridge, Dr. Robert J., 193. 

Burghers, 144. 

Calabria, 41. 

Calvin, John, 76. 

Calvinistic Methodists, 155. 

Cameron, Richard, 136,, 

Cameronians, 136. 

Canada, 165, 264. 

Carrickfergus, 158, 160. 

Catherine de Medici, 90. 

Catechism, Heidelberg, 98, 100. 

Catholicism, Roman, in Europe, 
232. 

Catholicism, Roman, in U. S. A., 
231. 

Ceylon, 165. 

Chalmers, 145. 

Charles IX., 90. 

Christian Reformed Church, U. S. 
A., 261. 

Chronology, Presbyterian, 244. 

Civil War, in U. S. A., 198. 

Clemen* Romanus, 27. 

Clement VIII., 40. 

Coligny, 90, 180, 

Columba, 48. 

Confession of Faith, Westminister, 
133. 

Confederate States, General As- 
sembly of, 206. 

Conference committees, 225. 

Conde, 90. 

Oooke, Dr. Henry, 161. 

Covenanters, 128. 

Covenant, National, 128. 

Covenant, Solemn League and, 
181. 

Craig, John, 128. 

Cranmer, 114, 116. 



282 



INDEX. 



Craw, Paul, 106. 
Cromwell, 41. 
Culdees, 4G, 105. 

Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 
190, 262. 

Dark Ages, 29. 

"Declaration and Testimony, " 217. 

Dedication, 3. 

Denominations, 10, 239. 

Denton, Rev. Richard, 183. 

Disruption in church and nation, 

196. 
Doit, Synod of, 98. 
Doughty, Rev. Francis, 182. 
Driffield, Rev. George, 189. 

Early days of the Christian era, 

24. 
Edward VI., 116. 
Edwards, Jonathan, 185. 
Egypt, 15. 

Elizabeth River, 183. 
England, Presbyterianism in, 150, 

258. 
Erasmus, 95. 
Erastians, 132. 
Erskine, Ebenezer, 143. 

Farel, 76. 

Fisher, Rev. Samuel, 194. 

First Book of Discipline, 120. 

Five Million Dollar Fund, 222. 

Foreign Mission Statistics, 277, etc. 

France, 87. 

France, Reformed Church of, 254. 

France, Union of Free Evangelical 

Churches, 255. 
Francis L, 33. 
"Fraternal Relations," 223. 
Free Church of Italy, 44. 
Free Church of Scotland, 145. 

Geddes, Jennie, 127. 

General Assembly (first), U. S. A., 
188. 

General Assembly, U. S. A. , (North- 
ern), 261. 

General Assembly, U. S., (South- 
ern), 261. 

Geneva, 76. 



Geneva, Free Evangelical Church 
of, 264. 

General survey, 249. 

General Synod, Paris, 89. 

Germany, Free Evangelical Church, 
255. 

Germany, Old Reformed Church 
of Bentheim, etc., 257. 

Germany, Reformed Sy nodical 
Union of East Rhine, 255. 

Germany, Synod of United Han- 
overian Church, 25(5. 

Germany, partial roll of Reformed 
Churches, 265. 

Gillespie, George, 132. 

Greyfriars Church, 129. 

Greece, 264. 

Gurley, ipso facto, 217. 

Hamilton, Patrick, 106. 
Hanover Presbytery, 176. 
Hempstead, 182. 
Henry IV., 92. 
Henry VIII, 114. 
Henderson, Alexander, 128. 
Hill, Matthew, 182. 
Hippolytus, 27. 
Hodge,' Charles, 202. 
Holland, 95. 
Huguenots, 89, 180, 
Hungary, 102, 253. 
Huss, John, 61. 

Innocent III. , 38. 

Institutes, Calvin's, 78, 88. 

Irish Presbyterianism, 157, 258, 

259. 
Italy, Free Christian Church, 256. 
Italy, Reformed Church of the 

Grisons, 256. 

Jamaica, 264. 

Jamaica, Long Island, 183. 

Josephus, 17. 

Kentucky Synod, 216. 

King's Confession, 128. 
Knox, John, 110, 112. 

Laggan, Presbytery of, 183. 
Le Fevre, 76. 



INDEX. 



283 



Liglitfoot, Bishop, 28. 

Log College, 185. 

Lollards, 106, 152. 

Londonderry, 159. 

Long Island Presbytery, 185. 

Louis XIV, 93. 

Luther, Martin, 64. 

Maitland, 122. 

Makemie, Francis, 174, 183. 

Marot, Clement, 88. 

Mary de Medici, 92. 

Mary, Queen of Scots, 121. 

Masson, Pierre, 40. 

McAdow, 191. 

McCosh, James, 240. 

McGready, James, 190. 

Mecklenburg Declaration, 176. 

Melville, Andrew, 126. 

Michaelius, 181. 

Mission churches, 271. 

Missouri Synod, 218. 

Moravian Reformed Church, 252. 

Morel, Francis, 89. 



Netherlands, Christian Reformed 

Church, 257. 
New Amsterdam, 180. 
Newcastle Presbytery, 185. 
"New Side," 185. 
New York City, 183. 
Noetus, 27. 
Norfolk, 184. 
Notes, 249. 

Old and New School Division, 

192. 
"Old School Synod of Missouri," 

218. 
"Old Side," 185. 
Olivetan, 34. 
Origin of Presbyterianism, 9. 

Palmer, B. M., 206. 
Patrick, Saint, 157. 
"Patronage," 142. 
Pelagianism, 58. 
Philip II. , 96. 
Piedmont, 32. 
Pilgrims, 182. 



Philadelphia Presbytery, 184. 

Philadelphia Synod, 185. 

Pittsburg, 220. 

"Plan of Union," 190, 192. 

Population of U. S. A., 230, 

Poland, 101. 

Presbyterian Church and its sis- 
ters in U. S., 227. 

Presbyterian Church in North 
America, 261. 

Presbyterianism, Definition, 14. 

Presbyterian principle in other 
churches, 19. 

Princeton College, 186. 

Principal denominations in U. S. 
A., 229. 

Puritans, 181. 

Reformed Church in America 
(Dutch), 261. 

Reformed Church in U. S. (Ger- 
man), 261. 

Reformed Presbyterian Church of 
America, 186. 

Rehoboth, 183. 

Relief Church, 144. 

Remonstrants, 98. 

Reunion of Old and New School 
churches, 219. 

Resby, 105. 

Rogers, Dr. John, 189. 

Rotterdam, 95. 

Rough, ^ohn, 113. 

Rutherford, Samuel, 132. 

Saint Bartholomew's Day, 90. 

Sanquhar. 135. 

Scotland, 104. 

Scotland, Church of, 259. 

Scotland, Free Church, 259. 

Scotland, Original Secession 

Church, 260. 
Scotland, Reformed Presbyterian 

Church, 260. 
Scotland, U. P. Church, 260. 
Servetus, 82. 
Secession Church, 143. 
Sharp, Bishop, 135. 
Slavery, 197. 

Spanish Christian Church, 257. 
Spirit of Presbyterianism, 242. 



284 



INDEX. 



Snow Hill, 183. 

Spring, Dr. Gardiner, 202. 

"Spring Resolutions, : ' 202. 

Spnrgeon, 129. 

South Africa, 16"), 

Stanley, Dean, 27. 

"States Eights," 196. 

Stark, Helen, 109. 

Statistical returns, 268, 269, 270. 

Stewart, Margaret, 124. 

Switzerland, Reformed Churches 

of, 257. 
Synod of the Associate Reformed 

Church of the South, 262. 

Tennent, Dr., 185. 
Tetzel, 66. 

Theological Seminaries, 226. 
Thirty-nine Articles, 116. 
Torre Pellice, 33. 
Trent, Council of, 56. 
Tyndale, 106. 
Twisse, Dr., 133. 



Ulster, 159. 

United Presbyterian Church of 

North America, 187. 
United Presbyterian Church of 

Scotland, 145. 



United Synod of the South, 198, 

215. 
Universal Presbyterianism, 235. 

Vaudois Missionary, 35. 
Virginia Synod, 189. 

Waldenses, 32, 256. 

Waldo, Peter, 34. 

Wales, Presbyterianism in, 155, 

260. 
Walloon Churches, Holland, 254. 
Washington, George, 179. 
Welsh Calvinistic Church, U. S. 

A., 262. 
Western Reserve Synod, 193. 
Westminster Assembly, 131. 
Whitaker, Alex., 182. 
Whiteheld, George, 156, 185. 
Wicklifle, 151. 
William and Mary, 134. 
William "the Silent/' <)6. 
Wishart, George, 109. 
Witherspoon, John, 175, 178, 1S9. 

Yeomans, Dr., 202. 
Yolande, 37. 

Zurich, 70. 
Zwineli, 69. 



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